Since 2012, federal health programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, require physicians to establish a compliance plan that can effectively detect "criminal, civil, and administrative violations." That means you must have a process that addresses key compliance issues such as proper coding, medical necessity, and appropriate documentation.
An effective compliance plan can reduce the number of innocent mistakes and will go a long way toward audit avoidance. And, if your practice ends up as the target of allegations, having an effective compliance plan can help your outcome tremendously.
TMA offers a one day seminar, Commit to Compliance: Learn to Build an Effective Compliance Plan, on May 3 at the TMA building in Austin. It will show you how to develop and implement a compliance plan that includes all of the necessary components. The seminar will cover:
- Coding: documentation guidelines and what triggers an audit;
- Billing: internal controls and embezzlement protection and billing disclosure requirements;
- Human resources: federal labor laws for multiple size offices;
- HIPAA privacy: handling of medical records, myths about HIPAA, and Texas privacy laws, and
- HIPAA security: rules and safeguards and what's different in Texas.
As a seminar attendee, you will receive TMA's new guide, Build Your Compliance Plan, by Amanda B. Hill, JD, which you can easily customize for any size practice.
Action, March 18, 2013