Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Dialysis facilities who run into trouble on surveys will face much harsher penalties than they do now if the General Accounting Office gets its way. 

In "Dialysis Facilities: Problems Remain in Ensuring Compliance with Medicare Quality Standards" (GAO-04-63), the watchdog agency says too many facilities are failing to achieve minimum patient outcomes specified in clinical practice guidelines, and that serious quality problems identified in surveys aren't dealt with harshly enough.  

The GAO says Congress should pass legislation allowing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to impose immediate sanctions - such as fines - on facilities cited for serious deficiencies on two consecutive surveys. The report also says dialysis facilities should face more frequent surveys.

To see the report, go to www.gao.gov/new.items/d0463.pdf.