FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 10, 1998
Contact: Sarah Ellis, (303) 315-5571, [email protected]
The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced this week that it would close the Physicians at Teaching Hospitals (PATH) audit of University Physicians, Inc. with no findings of Medicare fraud, abuse or billing misrepresentation.
PATH is a nationwide initiative to review Medicare Part B (physician) billings among the nation's medical schools to ensure that reimbursements were reasonable, allowable and documented in accordance with regulations. PATH is part of a broader government initiative to identify and curb fraud and abuse in the Medicare program.
University Physicians, Inc., the non-profit physician group at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire, and Yale University in Connecticut are the only audited institutions to be found compliant thus far under the PATH reviews.
More than a decade ago, University Physicians implemented a comprehensive billing compliance program that is today considered an industry model, said Lilly Marks, senior associate dean of administration and finance for the CU School of Medicine and executive director of University Physicians.
"We believe that the audit findings confirm the effectiveness of our compliance program in ensuring the accuracy and integrity of UPI's business practices," Marks said. "University Physicians is particularly pleased that, in addition to avoiding any fines or penalties, we also avoided significant audit and legal fees. We were able to manage the entire audit process primarily using internal expertise at minimal expense. We are also pleased by the government's consideration of our compliance efforts in designing their review process."
To date, six academic medical centers across the country have completed settlements with the OIG ranging from $5.6 million to $30 million and averaging $15.1 million.
"The finding by the OIG confirms our expertise and accuracy in billing and coding for Medicare patients," said Richard Krugman, MD, dean of the CU School of Medicine. "We support the right of the government to audit the expenditure of public funds and are pleased that the audit of our institution resulted in a positive outcome."
University Physicians is the 501(c)-(3) entity that represents the clinical business activities of the faculty of the CU School of Medicine.
The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center is one of four campuses in the University of Colorado system. Located in Denver, Colo., the campus includes schools of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and dentistry, a graduate school and two hospitals.
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