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Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Physicians:

'Bounty Hunters' Don't Yet Have Docs On Radar

Published on Thu Jun 02, 2005

Physicians must supervise nurse anesthetists in New Jersey.

Physicians have been bracing themselves for another layer of scrutiny over their Medicare claims, this time from the Recovery Audit Contractors, which receive payments based on the amount of money they recoup from providers.
 
However, doctors can breathe a little easier for now. The RACs were supposed to begin auditing providers in California, New York and Florida in May.
 
But so far no physicians appear to have heard from them, according to William Rogers, a physician who runs the Physician Regulatory Issues Team at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The PRIT lists the RACs as an issue it is following, Rogers notes.
 
"I have been talking to docs all the time in the states where the contracts are active, and I have not heard from a single doctor who has been audited yet," notes Rogers.
 
"Either what is happening is so painless or non-intrusive that docs don't feel the need to call, or they're not auditing docs." He adds that the RACs may focus on "big-ticket" items at hospitals instead of smaller issues in physician offices.

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