CMS has started auditing health care providers who have received meaningful use incentive payments, according to an alert from the law firm Ober Kaler, FierceEMR reports.
Background
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
CMS is required to audit health care providers attesting to meaningful use, but until this point, the agency only has posted general information about the audits.
Details About the Audits
Accounting firm Figliozzi & Company — based in Garden City, N.Y. — is acting on behalf of CMS to conduct the audits. The firm has started sending letters asking health care providers to furnish documentation supporting their meaningful use attestation.
According to the Ober Kaler alert, the auditor is seeking four types of data:
Documentation from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT showing that the provider used a certified EHR system for meaningful use attestation;
Information about the method used to report emergency department admissions;
Documentation that the provider has completed attestation for the core set of meaningful use criteria; and
Documentation that the provider has completed attestation for the required number of menu set meaningful use objectives.
Providers selected for the audits have two weeks to submit their documentation.
According to the Ober Kaler alert, the audits are not expected to involve site visits (Durben Hirsch, FierceEMR, 7/23).
