News Briefs: OIG Audits Will Focus on Unlinked Chart Reviews in MA

Sep 21
Sep 21, 2023

The HHS Office of Inspector General will conduct a series of Medicare Advantage audits focused on diagnoses identified from unlinked chart reviews that resulted in higher risk-adjusted payments to MA organizations. For the risk adjustment program, CMS allows Medicare Advantage organizations to conduct chart reviews of enrollee medical record documentation to identify diagnosis codes that providers either did not originally give the MAO or provided in error. With unlinked chart reviews, MAOs do not have to include the specific date of service for previously unidentified diagnosis codes. In a 2021 report suggesting some MAOs were relying heavily on chart reviews and health risk assessments to achieve higher risk-adjusted payments, OIG previously recommended that CMS reassess whether it should allow unlinked chart reviews to be sole sources of diagnoses for risk-adjusted payments. The audit reports are expected to be released in 2026, according to a work plan summary posted this month. Read more
© 2024 MMIT

Lauren Flynn Kelly

Lauren has been covering health business issues since the early 2000s and specializes in in-depth reporting on Medicare Advantage, managed Medicaid and Medicare Part D. She also possesses a deep understanding of the complex world of pharmacy benefit management, having written AIS Health’s Radar on Drug Benefits from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2011 to 2016. In addition to her role as managing editor of Radar on Medicare Advantage, she oversees AIS Health’s publications and manages the health editorial staff. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English.