MTS preview: Can you answer these three questions?

LAS VEGAS: When an audit action plan is working correctly, any HME business owner should immediately be able to answer three questions—how many audits did we get, how many have we responded to, and what were the results? That's the advice Stephanie Greene of The Audit Team will offer Medtrade Spring attendees.

HME News: What's the most important element of an audit action plan?

Stephanie Greene: Just knowing that an audit has hit your door. I hear all the time that audits have been sitting on someone's desk two to three weeks. You usually get 30 to 45 days to respond. They are either not submitted or not submitted quickly enough.

HME: What's the solution to that problem?

Greene: This is absolutely a training issue. You need to follow that paper through coming in to going out your door. Who's going to see it first? They need to be identified and trained. If everything works perfectly, you can get it out the door within two to two-and-a-half weeks.

HME: What obstacles should a provider expect to face in implementing this plan?

Greene: Making sure your staff understands the paperwork and how to prepare a response. If you have a patient receiving CPAP supplies today, but they got the device in 2007, you have to show the medical necessity on the underlying device. The flip side is that they may submit too much information, which causes additional problems. If you send them 150 pages of hospital discharge papers, they're not going to go through that haystack to find the needle.

HME: What's the one thing you hope providers take away from this session?

Greene: You have to go on the offensive and be ready for the audit. You can't sit back and be reactive. HME

Stephanie Greene

General counsel and senior client advisor, The Audit Team

“Deal With Audits Head On: Creating an Organized Action Plan”

Tues., Mar. 19, 1:45 PM to 2:45 PM

Contact: 888-833-3478 / sgreene@theauditteam.com