HCPro.com: Briefings on Outpatient Rehab: Reimbursement and Regulations

Ever-changing reimbursement policies and government regulations affects your facility's ability to stay in compliance. Briefings on Outpatient Rehab Reimbursement & Regulations reports on these changes and offers suggestions on how best to cope with them.

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July 2008 (Volume 13, Issue 7)	view entire issue

Recovery audit contractors are coming: Is your facility prepared?
The prospect of a government audit is already a concern for many therapists, but with the pending arrival of the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program, Medicare auditing is about to get even more aggressive. CMS plans to use RACs nationwide to identify and correct improper Medicare payments. Congress mandated the RAC program through the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 in an attempt to protect the Medicare Trust. CMS aims to select national RACs and begin claim review in some regions this year and permanently install the RAC program nationwide by January 1, 2010.

Billing for group therapy the right way
Two patients come to your practice at the same time to receive therapy. One is having trouble with a shoulder injury, and the other is recovering from knee surgery. You spend 50 minutes working with both patients. Should you bill for group therapy? Not necessarily. Many therapists mistakenly think that just because they have more than one patient at their facility under their care at one time, they are providing group therapy, says Rick Gawenda, PT, director of rehabilitation services for Detroit Receiving Hospital in Ypsilanti, MI.

To sign or not to sign
With managed care contract reimbursement rates dropping, you may feel like you have to sign every contract that comes across your desk just to keep your practice running. Many rehab providers are trying to make up money lost through decreasing reimbursements by taking on more managed care contracts to increase their volume of clients, says Lynn Steffes, PT, president of Steffes & Associates Consulting Group in New Berlin, WI, and executive director of Midwest Rehabilitation Network, Inc., in Brookfield, WI.

BRRR Q&A
Editor's note: Nancy J. Beckley, MS, MBA, CHC, president of Bloomingdale Consulting Group in Brandon, FL, answered the questions below. Please submit questions to Associate Editor Emily Beaver at ebeaver@hcpro.com.

Other recently-published articles from Briefings on Outpatient Rehab: Reimbursement and Regulations:

Medicare changes give more SLPs option to go private in 2009

Manage your facility’s front office well for good first impressions and a successful practice

Don’t let backend operations be your facility’s downfall

BRRR coding corner

BRRR Q&A

Delegating tasks and billing appropriately

BRRR coding corner

Make your electronic records comply with HIPAA standards

Treating autism: More states require insurance coverage

PQRI update: The 2007 bonuses have arrived

BRRR coding corner

Fitness and wellness programs: Make your practice more fiscally fit

Going digital: Implementing electronic records in your practice

Congress delays full implementation of therapy caps

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