""CMS and Medicare often do foolish things that cost much more than what they recover. This year the OIG audit discovered there were overpayments of the EHR incentives for hospitals. It represented less than 1 % of the total amount paid to hospitals. There was no mention in EHR intelligence that overpayment was made to providers (physicians). CMS is being 'generous by reducing the number of deviant hospital amounts from 96 million to about 1.6 million for some obscure reason of their own about the dates of incentive. (Merry Christmas) (humbug to CMS) . They requested a 'voluntary' refund from the remaining criminal element of hospitals if they would do 'DUE DILIGENCE' by examining their cost analysis of their hospital and provide it to CMS. EHR intelligence did not report if there is a hard deadline for the report, or face further penalties such as being terminated from CMS.
I realize that is a long stretch on my part, but worse things have occurred in the past year that makes this even pale in significance.""
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The remainder of the Health Train Express is copied from EHR Intelligence and is printed below. Attribution is given to John Lynn
The incorrect Medicare EHR incentive payments represented less than 1% of total payments to acute care hospitals, but OIG still recommends the recovery of some reimbursements.
An audit of 8,297 Medicare EHR incentive payments made to acute care hospitals from Jan. 1, 2013 to Sept. 30, 2017, revealed that CMS did not always make the payments in accordance with federal requirements. (ie, 4 years)
“The incorrect net incentive payments occurred because the Medicare administrative contractors did not review the supporting documentation for all hospitals to identify errors in the hospitals' cost-report numbers used to calculate the incentive payments, and CMS did not include labor and delivery services in the incentive payment calculations, which resulted in hospitals receiving inflated incentive payments,” described Joanne M. Chiedi, the acting inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the report.
OIG recommended that CMS recovery $1.3 million of the incorrect Medicare EHR incentive payments from acute care hospitals. These payments were made during the reopening period, so CMS has the authority to recoup the incorrect reimbursements.
For the remaining incorrect Medicare EHR incentive payments which were outside of the reopening period, OIG recommended that CMS notify the acute-care hospitals associated with the incorrect payments so that those hospitals can exercise reasonable diligence to investigate and return any identified similar incorrect payments.
OIG also advised CMS to attempt recovery of the nearly $93.6 million in estimated incorrect net incentive payments made during the audit period and to ensure that all final and non-final payments made after our audit period are correct. CMS should do this by instructing Medicare Administrative Contractors to review all hospitals’ supporting documentation to identify errors in the hospitals’ cost-report numbers used to calculate the incentive payments, including supporting documentation for labor and delivery inpatient bed-days for cost reports with cost-reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 2013.
Let's do some simple math. (for some) $ 1.6 million divided by the 4 year period amounts to around $ 400,000 per annum The cost of recovery is nowhere near 100 percent forgiveness. It amounts to a tax increase and an increase of bureaucratic overhead for the 'offending' hospitals. If CMS and HHS really want to save money for the weary taxpayer, they could fire the employees that would ordinarily have their work time filled with this sort of nonsense. However, they are undoubtedly civil service employees who cannot be fired, except for sexual deviancy.
A better way is for CMS (which it does for most things, as does the DOD), is to contract an accounting firm or use the IRS to process the paper pile swamp.
The OIG in its infinite wisdom recommended. "CMS should do this by instructing Medicare Administrative Contractors to review all hospitals’ supporting documentation to identify errors in the hospitals’ cost-report numbers used to calculate the incentive payments, including supporting documentation for labor and delivery inpatient bed-days for cost reports with cost-reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 2013".
https://tinyurl.com/rolbskj
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