Wheelchairs/Scooters
Industry Fires Back at OIG Report on PWC Documentation
ARLINGTON, Va. — In the wake of an Office of Inspector General report that indicated a significant percentage of early 2007 power wheelchair claims lacked proper documentation, the American Association for Homecare fired back last week with a message that put the blame squarely on CMS. Calling the requirements "confusing and onerous," AAHomecare officials renewed calls that the system must be improved.
Released Dec. 30, the OIG report found that "three out of five claims for standard and complex rehabilitation power wheelchairs did not meet Medicare documentation requirements during the first half of 2007."
"The OIG study does not illustrate a problem with provider compliance but rather it reflects the obstacles providers face with Medicare documentation and its paperwork requirements," said Tyler J. Wilson, AAHomecare president, in the statement. "The paperwork requirements are confusing, shifting and inconsistent.
"The OIG report actually confirms what wheelchair providers and physicians have said for the past three years: The Medicare documentation requirements for power wheelchairs are inconsistent, far too complex and must be improved so both physicians and wheelchair providers can serve patients and successfully meet Medicare regulations. We obviously want to ensure 100 percent compliance. But the inequity and inefficiencies of this system are evident when, as the OIG found, only 7 percent of claims for complex rehabilitation wheelchairs meet Medicare's documentation standards."
Read the entire statement on AAHomecare's Web site.
Tim Pederson, chair of AAHomecare's Complex Rehab and Mobility Council, said the association is developing a more in-depth response to use on the Hill, but he called the statement an excellent starting point. "The OIG study was inherently unfair," said Pederson, CEO of WestMed Rehab, Rapid City, S.D. "It took a limited sample of claims data from the first six months of 2007 when the industry was in turmoil. The timing is unfortunate, unfair and does not reflect reality."
