Clinicient Inc, a provider of outpatient rehabilitation business solutions, conducted a Medicare compliance risk survey of physical therapy practice owners and managers and found that 64% are at risk for noncompliance. The web-based survey included 441 physical therapy practice owners and managers who responded to a five-question, brand-neutral survey about their proficiency in Medicare reform and its impact on their daily practice activities. The online survey was launched on July 1, 2014.
According to the survey, 64% of respondents are at significant risk for Medicare regulatory noncompliance and consequential cash flow problems, in addition to denied claims, Medicare fines, and higher overhead costs for audit preparation and response. A “noncompliant” answer to one or more of the questions, which gauged regulatory adherence, indicated a significant Medicare risk.
A news report from StreetInsider.com indicates that survey respondents were not paid for their time or prescreened to skew the results. Clinicient’s Medicare Playbook, a digital resource kit filled with compliance tools and information, was available to survey respondents to address immediate concerns after viewing their survey results.
Nancy Beckley, president of Nancy Beckley & Associates and an expert in Medicare compliance, says, “The industry at large is actually more at risk than these results show. Just by choosing to take the survey, these participants demonstrated some level of awareness that noncompliance is a real and impending threat.” Beckley adds, “These questions effectively predict serious risk of noncompliance.”
Rick Jung, CEO of Clinicient, states, “Regardless of the size of your practice or its location, everyone can agree that the challenges of Medicare reform are insurmountable for the therapist alone. A trusted adviser is required who can navigate every point along the therapy practice revenue cycle that is vulnerable to noncompliance.”
[Source: StreetInsider.com]
