Joseph Wysoki, DO, and Mark Smith, MD. Each physician attested to achiev- ing meaningful use in 2011 and each re- ceived $18,000 incentive payments. Dr. Rodriguez is the chair of the practice’s EHR committee and oversaw staff and physician training on meaningful use attestation. Like Drs. Wolf and Sachdev, the three physicians received initial audit letters in December and follow-up requests for ad- ditional documentation in March. They requested an extension in March, and the auditor granted the practice two weeks to gather and submit information. Dr. Rodriguez says her group took an


organized, thorough approach to adopt- ing and implementing the EHR system and to attestation of meaningful use. “I was surprised some of our physi- cians were being audited. We worked to truly understand how to attest to mean- ingful use and kept comprehensive doc- umentation of the attestation process,” she said.


She adds that her EHR vendor, Allscripts, has helped the practice re- spond to the audit requests. Dr. Rodri- guez advises other physicians who plan to attest to meaningful use to copy and save all the documentation used to at- test. She recommends storing the infor- mation electronically and in hard copy. “Physicians who get audited should ask for an extension, request help from their EHR vendors, and consult all the resources they have available,” she said.


RAC audits alive and well


The top problem uncovered by the Medi- care recovery audit contractor (RAC) for Texas’ Region C involves showing medi- cal necessity for cardiovascular proce- dures, according to the Centers for Medi- care & Medicaid Services (CMS). A quarterly report for October


through December 2012 says: “Medi- care pays for inpatient hospital services that are medically necessary for the set-


June 2013 TEXAS MEDICINE 35


L AW FIRM PC


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