Survey Suggests Hospitals Are Preparing For Recovery Audit Contractors

In a recent news release, Wolters Kluwer Health reports that a national survey of health information management (HIM) directors suggests that 92 percent of HIM directors are familiar with the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program.  Of those HIM directors, the news release reveals that only 5 percent believe that the RAC program will have a positive financial impact on their facility in the form of funds attributable to Medicare underpayments.  Instead, 88 percent anticipate a negative financial impact due to their facility owing funds in the form of Medicare overpayments (40 percent) or their facility coming out about even (48 percent). Further, of the total surveyed, the news release indicates that 81 percent report that their facilities are taking steps to improve Medicare claims accuracy. According to the news release, such steps include:

• Conducting internal audits (77 percent);
• Implementing a documentation improvement plan (66 percent); and/or
• Creating a special task force to examine documentation, coding and billing (57 percent).

For more information on the survey, examine the news release on the Wolters Kluwer Health website.