Despite all the attention providers pay to Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) audits, a single hospital employee usually handles all such inquiries, concluded to a report conducted by the Health Care Compliance Association.
In all, 57 percent of the respondents said a single employee handled all RAC audits. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) reported that three or fewer full-time employees handle such audits, according to responses from a Web-based poll of 418 healthcare organizations.
Only 3 percent of the organizations had 10 or more employees devoted to RAC activity, and only 8 percent of organizations with more than 5,000 employees in that category.
Most RAC audits were handled through the organization's compliance department, particularly in organizations with more than 250 employees. Budgeting for RAC audits does not appear to be dramatically different as it is for other government initiatives. Only 10 percent of those polled have reported a significant compliance budget increase.
"The RAC audits do not appear, at least for most organizations, to be leading to a dramatic escalation in compliance budgets," states the report.
For more information:
- read the Cardiovascular Business article
- here's the RAC report (.pdf)