AAHomecare to Develop Audit Tracking System to Quantify Audit Effects on Providers

WASHINGTON (May 8, 2014)—The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) announced at its Washington Legislative Conference that it will be moving forward with its proposal to build and launch a system to track the Medicare audits hurting home care providers. “Good data informs good decisions,” said Tom Ryan, president and CEO of AAHomecare. “We’re ready to work on behalf of the industry to collect and quantify the impacts of audits and present compelling facts that policymakers cannot ignore.” AAHomecare member companies are feeling the pain of audits and are suffering financially. This, coupled with the bidding program, has forced beneficiaries to find new providers and redo documentation. The GAO has raised questions about the efficiency and effectiveness of the audit system and the administrative burden on providers. AAHomecare worked closely with the American Hospital Association (AHA) on their RACTRAC survey tool and has met with Provider Consulting Solutions, the company that developed the program. Using lessons learned from that process, the AAHomecare audit tracking system will collect hard facts that will demonstrate the impact of audits on the industry. “Anecdotal stories and self-reported data are not credible and not persuasive with policymakers,” said Kim Brummett, vice president of regulatory affairs, AAHomecare. Visit aahomecare.org for more information.