The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has identified 13 Medicare severity diagnosis-related groups (MS-DRGs) and discharges as being at high risk for payment errors related to billing, coding or medical necessity issues. Hospitals can access provider-specific and comparative data on these 13 areas via the Excel-based PEPPER reports, allowing them to fine-tune internal auditing and monitoring to better identify risks and ensure accurate Medicare payments. (PEPPER stands for Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report.)
The initial 2010 release of the PEPPER reports is now available for download by registered Quality Net users. This year, additional updated reports are scheduled for release on March 24, May 24, August 24 and October 25.
To learn more about PEPPER reports:
- read the RACmonitor.com article
- visit QualityNet's website