OASIS Alert
RAC Audits Will Impact Medicaid Claims Jan. 1, CMS Says
You've benefited from several delays to Medicaid RAC audits, but Jan. 1 will be a day of reckoning when those audits kick in. Recovery Audit Contractors will be reviewing Medicaid claims soon, thanks to last year's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Although RAC audits were originally slated to impact Medicaid claims on April 1, 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services delayed that date. Finally on Sept. 14, CMS posted a final rule in the Federal Register indicating the audits will begin on Jan. 1, 2012. Medicaid RACs may be more inclined to review home care claims than the Medicare RACs, experts speculate. The government projects that RAC audits could save Medicaid more than $2 billion between 2012 and 2017, and a portion of those savings will go back to the states. "If we're going to spurt jobs and economic growth and restore long-term fiscal solvency, we need to make sure hard-earned tax dollars don't go to waste," Vice President Joe Biden said in a Sept. 14 news release. The Federal Register notice is at www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2011-23695_PI.pdf.
OASIS Alert
- Item Focus:
M1200: Don't Be Blinded by Low Vision Case Mix Points
Avoid these common upcoding and downcoding mistakes. You can earn up to three case mix [...] - Get the M1200 Case Mix Breakdown
Do you know how much your M1200 inaccuracies are costing you? It could be more [...] - Assessment Strategies:
Try these M1200 Assessment Techniques
Ask the Right Questions You know you need to know whether your patient has a [...] - Tool:
Nail Leg Ulcer Types with This Chart
Know what to look for with stasis, arterial, and ulcers caused by peripheral neuropathy. Keeping [...] - Assessment:
Get Down to OASIS Basics for Most Accurate Reimbursement
One tip yields improved case mix scores and better reporting. Understanding each OASIS item is [...] - Quiz:
Test Your M1410 Skills
Check your assumptions about oxygen use. OASIS item M1410 -- Respiratory Treatments utilized at home asks [...] - ICD-9 Diagnosis Coding:
Welcome New Detail for Late Effects, Glaucoma, and Cardio Codes
Don't forget to update your memory loss coding practices. ICD-9 2012 ushered in a slew [...] - Patient Privacy:
Beef up Your Laptop and Facebook Security Procedures
Take a closer look at these HIPAA security risks. With HIPAA enforcement looking to ramp [...] - Compliance:
Gear Up for OIG's Spotlight on OASIS Data
OIG work plan adds 5 new HHA topics to 4 existing ones. Monitoring home health [...] - Industry notes:
RAC Audits Will Impact Medicaid Claims Jan. 1, CMS Says
You've benefited from several delays to Medicaid RAC audits, but Jan. 1 will be a [...] - Reader Question:
Look to WOCN for Leg Ulcer Gudiance
Question: How do we answer the OASIS stasis ulcer questions when the patient diagnoses include [...]
