HCPro releases RAC preparedness benchmarking survey results
HIM Connection, December 15, 2009
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIM Connection!
In 2009, HCPro’s Revenue Cycle Institute conducted an in-depth study on recovery audit contractor (RAC) preparedness among healthcare providers. Not surprisingly, the survey determined that HIM staff members—from both coding and medical records backgrounds—play a large role in RAC preparation.
The study garnered 717 participants from all four RAC jurisdictions. Respondents hailed from healthcare providers of various sizes: 25% came from hospitals with fewer than 100 beds, another 25% came from hospitals with more than 400 beds, and the remaining 50% were spread in between. Approximately 14% of respondents had participated in the RAC demonstration project.
A surprisingly high number of respondents said they already had a RAC preparedness program in place (71%). Providers with heightened awareness of the RAC initiative who may have been more likely to respond to the survey may have inflated this number, according to Kimberly Anderwood Hoy, JD, CPC, director of Medicare and compliance at HCPro.
Programs appear to still be in their early stages. Of respondents with a program in place, 85% started in the past year, and more than 50% started in the past six months. Risk assessments are also well under way, with 75% of respondents saying they have looked at potential risks.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIM Connection!
Related Products
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- Capturing all necessary codes for IUD insertion and removal can be challenging
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- News and briefs: Oklahoma Osteopathic Association against residency bill change
- QA:Coding multiple initial infusions
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- E-mailed
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- CMS has reformulated payments for some bilateral procedures
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- New conflicts of interest create new challenges
- Q/A. One injection code or two?
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- Hospitals are not bound by InterQual criteria for determining patient status
- ED-to-inpatient transfers are flawed with safety gaps
- Searched