Medical practices today face a multifaceted challenge — providing exceptional patient care and ensuring compliance with complex regulations. As a healthcare professional, you’ve dedicated your life to healing, but there’s another facet of your practice that requires equal attention — medical audit reviews by the payor.
These meticulous examinations by payors, like insurance companies or government health programs, audit physician documentation and coding to ensure accurate billing, compliance with regulations, and prevention of fraud. By reviewing documentation, they verify that services billed were provided and medically necessary, while adherence to coding guidelines helps maintain consistency and transparency. Audits also safeguard against fraudulent practices like upcoding and unbundling.
Many providers wonder how to protect their practices when they are being audited. This blog explores common concerns with medical practice audits, including the role of a healthcare audit attorney, effective healthcare audit defense strategies and the significance of consulting medical audit professionals.
Why Is My Practice Being Audited?
Facing a medical practice audit can be anxiety-inducing, leaving you pondering the reasons behind this scrutiny. Various factors can trigger audits, and understanding why your practice is under the microscope is essential. Here are some of the common reasons for an audit:
- Random audits: Some audits are purely random. They are routine checks by payers or government agencies. Think of them as spot checks to ensure healthcare providers comply with regulations.
- Targeted investigations: While random audits are common, payers often conduct targeted investigations. These investigations focus on practices that display billing patterns or behaviors that stand out from their peers. You might attract attention if your practice frequently bills with specific modifiers, generates significant revenue or exhibits inconsistent billing practices.
- Red flags: Your practice might inadvertently raise a red flag on payer systems. This could stem from coding irregularities, a surge in certain services or treatments, or frequent patient complaints. Disgruntled employees or patients can sometimes trigger an audit.
Understanding the reasons behind an audit is helpful, though only sometimes clear-cut. However, if you know your practice’s billing patterns and potential triggers, you’ll be better prepared to address the audit. Sometimes, a preemptive medical record audit by outside coding experts can reveal areas that need attention, helping you confidently navigate the audit process.
While audits can feel overwhelming, arming yourself with knowledge and strategies is the first step toward a successful audit defense.
How to Prepare for a Medical Practice Audit
With medical practice audits, preparation is your best defense. Proactivity can save you a world of trouble when facing external audits. These crucial steps can fortify your practice’s audit readiness:
- Conduct internal audits: The best way to prepare for a future audit is to perform one on your own terms before a payer demands it. Start by analyzing your practice. Are patient files meticulously documented? Are your provider policies up to date? A well-conducted internal audit may reveal issues within your practice that need attention before an external audit.
- Seek external expertise: Don’t hesitate to enlist certified billing companies and coding experts to review your documentation and billing procedures extensively. They offer valuable insights from a payer audit perspective, helping you identify and rectify discrepancies.
- Train and supervise staff: Your staff is your first line of defense. Ensure they are well-trained and supervised. Update written policies regarding patient files, communication, documentation and privacy. Make sure employees understand these policies and their roles within the practice.
- Evaluate electronic medical records (EMRs): Assess your EMR’s strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes, electronic records might not capture the necessary data to satisfy auditor reviews. Your EMR system should align with audit requirements.
- Certified billing companies: If you’re considering hiring a billing company, ensure their employees are well-trained and certified. Sound billing practices are instrumental in achieving favorable audit results.
- Maintain proper documentation: Maintaining thorough and accurate patient documentation is paramount. Proper documentation ensures compliance and aids in a smooth audit process. Make sure every service, treatment or procedure is recorded correctly.
Remember, audit defense is about protection and proactivity. Building a robust compliance program is your best shield against the uncertainty of audits. By conducting internal audits, maintaining proper documentation and seeking external expertise, you’ll be better equipped to tackle healthcare audits head-on.
What to Do When Your Medical Practice is Audited
If an audit notice arrives, staying composed and following a clear course of action is crucial. Here’s a step-by-step guide on what to do when your medical practice is audited:
- Read and calendar the deadline: Carefully read the audit notice and note the deadline for your response. Understanding the timeline is essential, whether it’s a demand for documents, a pre-payment review or a post-audit overpayment demand.
- Identify the auditor: Determine the source of the audit. Is it Medicare, a private contractor working for a government payer or a private insurance company? The auditor’s identity is critical in deciding how and when to respond.
- Know your payer policies: Familiarize yourself with the policies of the payer in question, especially their appeal procedures. Understanding these can be invaluable in crafting your response.
- Consult with counsel: Seek legal advice from an attorney specializing in healthcare audit defense. They can guide you through the process, ensuring you don’t inadvertently harm your case.
- Maintain confidentiality: Until you’ve consulted with your attorney and received guidance, refrain from discussing the audit with your staff or any third party. Loose lips can lead to complications.
- Don’t overcommunicate with auditors: While providing detailed explanations to auditors is tempting, resist the urge. Their goal is to find overpayments, and anything you say can be misconstrued. Request written questions from the auditor, allowing you to evaluate them carefully with your counsel.
Navigating a medical audit can be stressful, but with a well-defined plan and legal counsel by your side, you can protect your practice’s interests effectively.
Types of Medical Practice Audits
Medical audits come in various forms, each with its unique focus and objectives. Understanding these types can help you better navigate the medical audit process:
- Government audits: Government agencies like Medicare and Medicaid conduct audits to ensure compliance with federal regulations. These audits aim to identify billing errors, fraud and abuse in healthcare claims.
- Private payer audits: Private insurance companies also conduct audits to review billing practices. Their goal is to prevent overpayments and ensure the accuracy of claims. They may initiate audits based on billing patterns or specific concerns.
- Recovery audits: These audits focus on recovering overpayments made to healthcare providers. They aim to identify and recoup funds that should not have been disbursed in the first place.
- Pre-payment reviews: Some audits occur before payment is made. In pre-payment reviews, auditors assess the validity of claims before insurers approve them for payment.
- Post-audit overpayment demands: After payment has been made, post-audit overpayment demands seek to recover funds that were incorrectly disbursed to providers.
- Targeted investigations: In cases where potential fraud or misconduct is suspected, targeted investigations delve deeper into a specific provider’s practices to uncover any irregularities.
- Random audits: Random audits are just that — random. Providers may be selected for audit without any specific reason, serving as a control measure to ensure overall compliance.
Each type of audit requires a tailored approach for response and defense. Consulting with medical audit professionals is often essential to navigate the complexities of these audits successfully.
The Importance of Consulting With Medical Audit Professionals
Navigating the complexities of a medical audit can be challenging. That’s where medical audit professionals come in as your trusted guides. These experts specialize in healthcare audit defense, ensuring your practice remains compliant and protected.
Seeking external guidance from healthcare audit attorneys and professionals offers several benefits. They bring in-depth knowledge of audit processes, regulations and industry standards — helping you respond effectively to auditors’ demands. With their expertise, you can confidently defend your practice, ensuring fair outcomes and minimal financial impact.
When facing a medical record audit, don’t go it alone. Lean on the support and knowledge of medical audit professionals to safeguard your practice’s reputation and financial stability.
Consult With an Experienced Audit Defense Attorney Like DoctorsManagement!
Audits are a reality, and when they come knocking, being prepared is your best defense. We’ve covered the essential steps to navigate these challenges, but sometimes, you need more than just knowledge — you need a team of experts to stand with you.
DoctorsManagement, a trusted name in simplifying the business of medicine, is here to guide you through audit appeals and defense. Our seasoned medical audit professionals specialize in Medicare appeals, OIG regulatory compliance, audit extrapolation defense, CMS medical necessity and clinical documentation reviews. Trust our team of experienced auditors, coders, economists and statisticians to deliver an unbiased, fact-based defense.
Contact us today, and let’s build a winning strategy together. Your practice’s future is too important to leave to chance.
