The Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA) has launched a new website that lets providers check the status of their administrative law judge (ALJ) appeals.

The site, called the ALJ Appeal Status Information System (AASIS), intends to provide public access to appeal status information.

The news comes as DMEPOS providers are still working in the wake of OMHA’s decision to delay assigning ALJs by more than two years to provider appeals on Medicare claims audits. OMHA was forced to enact the delay after a backlog of hundreds of thousands of claims had formed as providers began appealing Medicare claims audits due to the high overturn rate.

The website is accessed through the OMHA website (www.hhs.gov/omha) and clicking on the “Appeal Status Lookup” link located on the left navigation bar. Information on data availability, updates, and status definitions is provided to help providers with their search. AASIS helps users query level 2 and level 3 appeal numbers, and returns appeal data, such as the date the appeal was received, the status of the appeal, and the ALJ assignment and team phone number.

“We applaud OMHA for taking this step to allow suppliers to see what is going on with audits affecting their business, and give them a resource for following up on those appeals,” said Kim Brummett, vice president of regulatory affairs for the American Association for Homecare.