PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
Payback possible Auditor checking meaningful use payments
BY CRYSTAL ZUZEK Little Elm internist Jill Wolf, MD, never imagined the $18,000 payment she earned for meeting Stage 1 meaningful use measures in the Medicare electronic health record (EHR) incentive program could be taken away. But she learned her payment was in jeopardy when she
received a letter from the New York-based accounting firm Fi- gliozzi & Company in December telling her the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) selected her for an EHR meaningful use audit.
“Because the letter pertained to the Medicare program and
didn’t come from CMS but from a private company, I didn’t think it was real. My office manager did some research and discovered it was legitimate. We learned that CMS contracted with Figliozzi and Company to perform meaningful use audits,” Dr. Wolf said.
Managing partner Peter Fi- gliozzi said he isn’t allowed to discuss audits and didn’t com- ment on this story.
As the gravity of the situ- ation set in, Dr. Wolf says she had only 10 days to gather doc- umentation that could prove she properly attested to achiev- ing Stage 1 meaningful use cri- teria. Figliozzi will extend the deadline if asked. To contact Figliozzi, call (516) 745-6400. The auditor requested what
“It’s appalling to me that we spent two years making sure we implemented the EHR system properly and attested correctly, only to be told someone needs to review everything all over again,” Dr. Wolf said.
She’s not alone in the scramble to navigate the auditing
“Being notified of an audit of any nature doesn’t
leave you with a pleasant feeling.”
Dr. Wolf describes as general information, including the EHR vendor licensing agreement, screenshots from the EHR sys- tem that support attestation, and documentation displaying the EHR vendor logo. At press time, the audit had not been completed.
Besides the $18,000 it already paid, CMS is holding Dr.
Wolf’s $12,000 incentive payment for attesting to year two of Stage 1 meaningful use pending the audit’s outcome; thus, she stands to lose $30,000.
process and defend her meaningful use documentation. The Texas Medical Association has received calls from members seeking assistance responding to audit requests for documen- tation. Dr. Wolf’s practice partner and husband, John Flores, MD, contacted TMA after Dr. Wolf received the audit letter in December. Dr. Flores says the association helped him and Dr. Wolf determine the required documentation and reviewed the materials before submitting them to Figliozzi. For information about meaningful use or other health information technology (HIT) issues, contact TMA’s HIT Department by telephone at (800) 880-5720 or by email at
HIT@texmed.org, or visit the TMA EHR Incentive Program Resource Center, www.texmed .org/EHRIncentive. The North Texas Regional Extension Center (REC), which helped Drs. Flores and Wolf achieve meaningful use, also is helping the physicians respond to the audit. A map of REC ser- vice regions and contact infor-
mation for each center is on the TMA website at www.texmed .org/rec. Texas’ RECs educate clients on the potential for audits and the need to maintain documentation, according to Yvonne Sanchez, CentrEast REC program manager. “We also help them post-attestation to review their audit
support. We would assist a practice undergoing an audit if they were not our client. We have an hourly rate that is based on the service needed and how many hours of support they need,
June 2013 TEXAS MEDICINE 31
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