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The Anti-Kickback Statute: Enforcement and Recent Updates
Recorded Webinar
This webinar will focus on cases and enforcement actions taken by the HHS OIG and its law enforcement partners in 2021.
We will also briefly review the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”), discuss safe harbors, particularly the new proposed safe harbor for coordinated care and associated value-based arrangements, and OIG Advisory Opinions that have been issued in 2021, as well as pertinent cases involving the AKS.
This program is designed for healthcare executives, physicians, and other healthcare providers and their managers who participate in and receive remuneration from Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs such as TriCare. Several recent cases bring home the realization that many activities that are common in other industries are a crime under federal healthcare fraud and abuse laws.
Hospital executives, as well as physicians and/or other health care providers, should be very concerned about the potential for the government to use the AKS as one of the prime methods for enforcing federal fraud and abuse laws. Equally concerning, along with Stark II (the federal physician anti-referral law), the AKS can be and is being used as the basis for an action brought under the Federal False Claims Act.
In this webinar, you will learn about the elements of the AKS, along with the various exceptions and safe harbors that you can rely on for protection against enforcement under these laws. This is important because healthcare fraud and abuse if becoming the focus of these enforcement efforts.
Venue: Recorded Webinar
A hospital chargemaster is a comprehensive list of a hospital's products, procedures, and services. Everything from prescription drugs to supplies for diagnostic tests has a unique price listing in the chargemaster. Major components include revenue codes that reflect the site of service and applicable CPT/HCPCS codes that indicate the service provided/charged. Poor matches between these code sets may lead to distorted cost centers, lost revenue, charges bundled that should be separately reported and incomplete departmental charging. Webinar’s Goals Understand chargemaster code functions Understand revenue leakage resulting from poor chargemaster structure Understand why correct departmental charging is vital to revenue integrity Appropriate training for charge entry staff Billing attention to posted charges Who Should Attend Chargemaster Maintenance Staff Compliance staff Billers Coders Revenue Cycle Managers & Staff Risk Management Charge entry staff
Clinical documentation is the cornerstone for all patient medical records. This information should be of the highest quality to allow for optimal patient outcomes as well as supporting research, medical coding and other uses of the medical record. Its purpose is to adequately relate the patient’s current and historical conditions and treatments with primary focus placed on situations that affect the current medical encounter. It also supports the provider’s defense should the case become a legal issue. Webinar’s Goals Review of 7 criteria that all entries in the medical record should include Impact of documentation on coding & claims Establishing a CDI team Significance of abnormal lab results: querying the provider. Measurement of lesions, when taken and inclusion of margins. Why it matters & how reimbursement may be affected. Start & stop times & methodology for infusions & discrepancies in billing. Complete reporting for administration and substance. Diagnostic testing and medications should be supported in a diagnosis. Unsupported documentation may cost you money. Depth of wounds and cause should be clear. Clarity needed for both depth and origin of wound. Severity of illness. Hospitals and payers are increasingly scrutinizing patient severity. Lack of detail costs money. Diagnosis present on admission? Certain conditions do not generate additional revenue if occurrence after admission. Areas Covered The ICD-10 code set requires explicit documentation of conditions & treatments in order to support the severity of patients under treatment as well as allow for the significant specificity required by this code set. Ambiguous documentation and generic coding will no longer guarantee reimbursement and may generate a claims denial for lack of medical necessity. In this session, we will review the theory of high-quality clinical documentation which has the support of healthcare regulatory guidelines and peer-review research. Additional consideration involves medical outcomes that may result in legal action. When clinical documentation is vague, missing key elements and conflicting statements, the provider may find that he/she is handicapped in supporting medical decisions and patient results, particularly when the result is a negative outcome for the patient. In today’s healthcare environment, many patients have become educated consumers of medical services. They are more inclined to request their own medical record, carefully review explanation of benefits from payers, and request a review of any information they deem to be incomplete or questionable. Target Audience Coding Billing Revenue Cycle Physicians Mid-level providers Nurses Claims follow-up Compliance Auditors
Many providers have seen a significant increase in claims delays and outright denials. The reasons may be many, but focused attention to three major elements can improve your results. Documentation, Coding & Billing work together to support adequate reimbursement. Weaknesses in any of these areas will affect the ability to capture optimal revenue. Documentation is the Foundation of Every Patient Encounter. Record pertinent facts, findings, observations about past & present illnesses, examinations, tests, treatments and outcomes Documents the care of the patient Facilitates planning immediate treatment Monitor patient’s healthcare over time Tells the patient’s story Strong Documentation drives the coder’s ability to capture all conditions that are relevant to the current encounter. The primary reason for the encounter must be clear. Secondary conditions that require management or affect the current encounter should be addressed by the provider. Problem lists can be misleading. Is the condition current or a historical occurrence no longer requiring treatment? Documentation and coding will support accurate claims billing serving to decrease the liklihood of payer delay or denial. These 3 functions are strongly intertwined. It is imperative that providers and staff collaborate to protect revenue, reduce reworking of the claim, and maintain a strong cash flow. Patient satisfaction is heavily influenced by the provider’s proficiency in obtaining correct and timely payment. Target Audience Chargemaster Maintenance Staff Physicians Practice managers Medical assistants Nurses Compliance staff Billers Coders Revenue Cycle Risk Management Charge entry staff
Areas Covered A major component of successful revenue management is accurate charging for services provided. Charges must be identified, posted timely and completely. Hospital charge capture is typically handled by the department that provided the service. Professional charges may be posted by the provider. In either case, the function may be a low administrative priority with little to limited training for charging activities. Coordination between departments may not be established. Accountability for correct charging may be minimal. There may be no formal policies or baseline controls for correct charge capture. Different systems may be used for charging and reconciliation An effective charge audit can identify lost revenue opportunities Webinar’s Goals Understand the importance of accurate charge capture Tips for charge review Departmental charge capture errors & omissions Revenue leakage resulting from charging errors Reduce non-compliance exposure Improvement of operational efficiency Enhance patient satisfaction Key Points Why Errors Occur Multiple departments entering charges Charge master may be incorrect or incomplete Error in number of units selected Error in item selection Inactive charge New service not added Incorrect revenue code/cost center System conversions Overreliance on claims scrubber Target Audience Physicians Practice managers Medical assistants Nurses Compliance staff Billers Coders Revenue Cycle Risk Management