The Next “Patient” You See May be an Undercover Physician Auditing Your Practice.
April 11, 2010 by
Filed under Medicare Audits
(April 11, 2010): As the American Medical Association (AMA) recently reported on March 22nd, health care providers may find themselves subjected to “Secret Shopper” audits by fellow providers hired by the government conduct reviews and investigations.
In a speech he made March 10th, President Obama expressed interest in a proposal by Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) to have physicians and other health professionals go undercover and pose as patients to root out fraud. Apparently, President Obama included it among with several other Republican proposals which were considered when the recently passed Health Care Reform Bill was enacted. Dr. Coburn tried to amend the Senate health reform bill with a provision that would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a demonstration project for undercover investigations. While a number of demonstration projects were ultimately included in the legislation, it isn’t clear if this is one of them.
Not surprisingly, the AMA has dismissed the idea of paying physicians to pretend to be patients in an effort to smoke out criminal activity. As the AMA responded:
“The AMA has zero tolerance for health fraud, but there’s no evidence that the undercover-patient tactic would be effective or efficient in finding fraud. . . We are partnering with HHS and the Justice Dept. to address fraud, and we strongly recommend the government target areas where fraud occurs most, instead of wasting physician time that could be better spent caring for real patients.” (AMA President J. James Rohack, M.D.)
Notably, “Secret Shopper” audits and investigations are nothing new. Both HHS and DOJ have used individuals posing as patients or employees in investigations for as long as health care fraud has been prosecuted by the government.
From a compliance standpoint, this could present a number of additional risks, not normally encountered in a standard billing and coding audit. This could implicate a variety of E/M related issues. Moreover, this may raise quality of care issues not otherwise covered in a routine audit.
The unknown issue at this point is whether HHS-OIG and / or CMS may try and expand the use of “Secret Shoppers” beyond the traditional boundaries of law enforcement. Currently, although ZPICs, PSCs and MICs may show up at a provider’s door seeking copies of documentation and answers to questions, they readily identify themselves when they arrive. Our client’s have expressed concern about ZPICs and RACs using a variation of the “Secret Shopper” scenario in yet another attempt to identify possible subjects for audit.
Should you have any questions regarding these issues, don’t hesitate to contact us. For a complementary consultation, you may call Robert W. Liles or one of our other attorneys at 1 (800) 475-1906.
