by Dr. Ray Foxworth, FICC, MCS-P
If you are keeping up with chiropractic news, you already know that chiropractic offices are being audited like never before. The most obvious reason is financial. Recoupments and fines can run into big money. The government, in particular, is trying to find cash wherever its agents can. Turns out chiropractors and others who are intentionally or unintentionally non-compliant represent a small gold mine. Sadly, it doesn’t matter much whether they have intent to defraud or are simply sloppy or ignorant of the law. The end result is the same…fines and penalties.
One threat that may not have occurred to you is ICD-10. Because ICD-10 has so many more codes made up of bewildering new alphanumeric sequences, there will be plenty of opportunities to make mistakes. Where there is a margin for error, there are auditors poised and waiting for the red flags to fly. That means that your documentation will likely receive more scrutiny than ever before. It’s a great opportunity for auditors to score some cash by catching chiropractors who are making mistakes. If your documentation isn’t rock-solid, you’re leaving yourself vulnerable to more and more records requests which are often the precursors of audits.
As a chiropractic student, you may be asking yourself what impact this is going to have on you. Very little of your formal chiropractic education is focused on billing, coding, documentation and compliance. Whether you are graduating in the next couple of months or in a couple of years, prepare yourself now by taking advantage of the resources available to you. You must educate yourself on the ever-changing rules and regulations and how to recognize compliance issues immediately. Compliance is an ongoing process. Start today by signing up for many of the free webinars we offer brought to you my some of the professions top companies and consultants. It’s never too early to begin arming yourself with the tools necessary to protect your practice and your new license so you can practice with more peace of mind!
Dr. Ray Foxworth is the founder and President of ChiroHealthUSA. Since its inception in 2007, ChiroHealthUSA has donated over $650,000 to help support state associations, COCSA, F4CP and the CCGPP. Dr. Foxworth recently announced the ChiroHealthUSA Foxworth Family Chiropractic Scholarship. Beginning in 2016, one student annually will be awarded a $10,000 scholarship and the students Chiropractic College will receive a donation of $10,000. To learn more and apply, go to www.chusascholar.com.
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Why is the Discount Challenge prize amount $15,024? Because that is the average “per-occurrence” fine for Medicare inducements. That’s not $15,024 per patient, that’s not per provider, that’s PER VISIT. Stinks, doesn’t it? To us, the prize amount is worth the investment if we can help our profession better understand proper discounting.