Most 2007 Power Chair Claims Didn’t Pass Documentation Muster
HHS OIG report says three in five claims in 1H07 didn’t meet requirements.
As if to confirm industry opinion that the power wheelchair claims documentation process can be a confusing, maze-like process, a December report from the Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) reported that “three out of five claims for standard and complex rehabilitation power wheelchairs did not meet Medicare documentation requirements during the first half of 2007.”
The findings illustrate “fundamental problems that occur when confusing and contradictory policies are applied to the claims process and when standardized Medicare documents approved by the federal Office of Management and Budget are not used,” noted a statement from AAHomecare.
“The OIG study does not illustrate a problem with provider compliance but rather it reflects the obstacles providers face with Medicare documentation and its paperwork requirements,” said AAHomecare president Tyler Wilson. “The paperwork requirements are confusing, shifting, and inconsistent.
“The OIG report actually confirms what wheelchair providers and physicians have said for the past three years: the Medicare documentation requirements for power wheelchairs are inconsistent, far too complex, and must be improved so both physicians and wheelchair providers can serve patients and successfully meet Medicare regulations,” he continued. “We obviously want to ensure 100 percent compliance. But the inequity and inefficiencies of this system are evident when, as the OIG found, only 7 percent of claims for complex rehabilitation wheelchairs meet Medicare’s documentation standards.”