New Brightree Tool Helps Providers Track Audit Data

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 1, 2017)—Home medical equipment (HME) suppliers who use Brightree software now have access to a new tool that will make it easier to participate in industry efforts to collect data on Medicare audits. This tool pulls together much of the data sought for the quarterly HME Audit Key Survey, an initiative supporting industry efforts to advocate on Capitol Hill and at CMS for much-needed audit reform. The current data collection round, covering information from the First Quarter of 2017, opened in April.

Brightree customers now have the option of printing a report from their My Files folder to answer many of the operational questions on the quarterly survey. Details on using the Brightree report can be found at aahomecare.org in the HME Audit Key resources section.

“We truly appreciate Brightree lending their support and expertise to the HME Audit Key effort,” said Tom Ryan, president and CEO of the American Association for Homecare. “Their new reporting tool will make it easier for more companies to participate in our quarterly surveys and collect data on the burdensome nature of Medicare audits that CMS and Congress can’t ignore.”

“AAHomecare and Brightree are working together to use information technology to ensure that providers can easily submit data accurately for the survey without it being labor intensive,” said Rob Boeye, Brightree’s executive vice president, HME. “By shaping the audit tracking and data collection process, we continue to take steps to support the long-term success of HME providers.”

“With this new reporting feature, the system does the work, rather than our billers or upper management,” adds Kaitlin Nacarato, director of audits and revenue enhancement for Carolina’s Home Medical Equipment, who was part of a test group using the new Brightree tool. “What was once a time-consuming and burdensome task is now automated and takes just a few minutes as opposed to an hour. With the newfound simplicity of the HME Audit Key survey, more providers will hopefully be encouraged to participate and further the case for audit reform.”

Learn More and Register for the Audit Key
The Audit Key is open to all HME suppliers. Registration and participation is free; you only need one of your organization’s NPI and respective 5-digit zip code to register and get started at hmeauditkey.org. Direct support and other resources to help users submit their data can also be found at the site.

Individual audit data is not required. The Audit Key does not require data on individual claims, but instead seeks cumulative counts of pre- and post-payment audits and appeal outcomes from DME MAC, RAC and SMRC reviews.

In addition to providing critical data for the campaign for audit reform, individual suppliers will have access to their own quarterly survey results, and access to aggregate survey results and key findings. Suppliers can use this information to see how they compare to others in terms of audit volumes and appeal overturn rates.

HME suppliers of all sizes and specialties are encouraged to join this campaign to build a strong data-set of performance benchmarks and help the HME community make the case on Capitol Hill and at CMS for much-needed audit reform. If your company hasn’t participated in the HME Audit Key, please consider joining this data-driven campaign to fix Medicare audits at hmeauditkey.org.

Visit aahomecare.org and brightree.com for more information.