You can add new, state-level recovery audit contractors (RACs) to your list of worries starting in 2012. All states are required to implement Medicaid RACs by Jan. 1 or lose out on federal funding, according to a CMS final rule posted Sept. 14. The new state-level RACs will be paid by states, operating under the same “contingency fee” model that the federal RACs use – i.e. they are paid based on cash recovered from you and your peers.

HHS wants you and your peers to give your patients more access to theirmedical records electronically as a way to improve care as part of an industry-wide push to give responsibility to the patient’s role in their health care, announced Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at HHS’ first-ever Consumer Health IT Summit on Sept. 12 in Washington.

You would be wise to save documentation – in whatever format you can – that shows you were honest and accurate in attesting to meaningful use for the Medicare electronic health record (EHR) incentive program, which is currently doling out money pretty much on the honor system, CMS says. Now the agency has issued its strongest statement yet on the need to preserve documentation for the future meaningful use auditing program.

NOTE: CMS has since restored the website. Merely a week after CMS released its Aug. 31 Electronic Prescribing (e-Rx) Incentive Program final rule, the website providers must use to claim the four new and two established hardship exemptions is down since at least 9am EST.

QualityNet reported that it is experiencing a system-wide connectivity issue which is also affecting the PQRI portal in a voice message recorded on the site’s helpline (see contact info below).

Most of your peers are happy with their Medicare contractors, but Part B contractors scored lower than other types, especially for enrollment as a business function, according to the latest 2011 Medicare Contractor Provider Satisfaction Survey (MCPSS). Overall, the average score for provider performance was 3.77 out of 5.00, or about 75.4%. The results for 2011 have changed little from 2010, according to the executive summary of the survey, which is commissioned annually by CMS.