Tired?
Ready to relax?
But wait, don't you have to update your Medicare compliance plan?
Remember the one sitting on the shelf? Or, the one you've been meaning to work on?
Well, take heart...
I've assembled some resources that will help get you started or further along to completion.
The first is this recent article...
Altering Medical Records: What Not To Do When Being Audited By Medicare : Physician Law
The article is published on the blog of attorney Todd Rodriguez, who specializes in Medicare fraud.
This next resource is a recent post from the Physical Therapy Manager (PT Manager) list-serve at Yahoo Groups. You may be required to join the group.
The list is moderated but most physical therapists, administrators and some medical doctors and chiropractors have managed to get on.
Look for Victoria Cavitt's post from July 30, 2008 (she is replying to Jim Hall, CPA) and she talks about 'U-haul trailers with copiers' - here is a sample...
"They show up at your practice with U-haul trucks that house their own
copiers and OIG agents serve you a subpoena to access ALL your medical
records.
Medicaid and OIG employees randomly pull patient charts off your shelf, copy
these charts in their U-haul trailers, and look for patterns of inaccurate
billing and insufficient documentation. They don't give you advance notice of their arrival..."
That post got my attention - I kept thinking about those U-haul trailer all day at work! And I have a great Medicare compliance plan that meets all of Victoria's criteria.
I got my plan from the source documents - I'll tell you where to get those in just a minute - but first you should take a look at the basis for any Medicare compliance plan.
The DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Office of Inspector General Compliance Program for Individual and Small Group Physician Practices is the authorizing document for any small practice tying to 'do-it-yourself' when it comes to compliance.
"We believe that the development and issuance of this voluntary compliance program guidance for individual and small group physician practices will serve as a positive step towards assisting providers in preventing the submission of erroneous claims or engaging in unlawful conduct involving the Federal health care programs."
Finally, I have this OIG document, the Medicare Manuals, an many more physical therapy specific resources all available for download at BulletproofPT.com.
You can get a free compliance tutorial that gives you 13 tips and strategies to 'bulletproof' your physical therapy practice.
Don't let the U-hauls get you.
Get Bulletproof PT today.
