By Markian Hawryluk, Published August 6, 2021 by Kaiser Health News
The clock was about to strike midnight, and Scott Newman was desperately feeding pages into a scanner, trying to prevent thousands of dollars in prescription payments from turning into a pumpkin.
As the owner of Newman Family Pharmacy, an independent drugstore in Chesapeake, Virginia, he was responding to an audit ordered by a pharmacy benefit manager, an intermediary company that handles pharmacy payments for health insurance companies. The audit notice had come in January as he was scrambling to become certified to provide covid-19 vaccines, and it had slipped his mind. Then, a month later, a final notice reminded him he needed to get 120 pages of documents supporting some 30 prescription claims scanned and uploaded by the end of the day.
“I was sure I’d be missing pages,” he recalled. “So I was rescanning stuff for the damn file.”
Every page mattered. Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, suspended in-person audits because of covid last year, shifting to virtual audits, much as in-person doctor visits shifted to telehealth. Amid added pandemic pressure, that means pharmacists such as Newman are bearing significantly more workload for the audits. It also has allowed benefit managers to review — and potentially deny — more pharmacy claims than ever before.
According to data from PAAS National, a pharmacy audit assistance service, while the number of pharmacy audits in 2020 declined nearly 14% from the year before, the overall number of prescriptions reviewed went up 40%. That meant pharmacies had to provide more documentation and stood to lose much more money if auditors could find any reason — even minor clerical errors — to deny payments.
The average audit in 2020 cost pharmacies $23,978, 35% more than the annual average over the previous five years, the PAAS data shows. And the number of prescriptions reviewed in September and October was fourfold over what PAAS members had seen in previous years.
Continue reading the complete article here
Humana Notice of Erroneous Billing under Medicare’s Limited Income Newly Eligible Transition Program (LINET)
Brace yourself, a Humana LINET recoupment could be in your future. LINET is a program that started January 1, 2010 under CMS, designed to simplify Part D prescription drug coverage for Medicare beneficiaries who are eligible for Medicaid (dual eligible) or the Medicare Low-Income Subsidy (LIS).
PAAS National® has received an exorbitant number of audits from Humana, the administrator for the LINET program, in the past two weeks. Pharmacies should be concerned about these supposed “overpayments” going back 6+ years and the potential industry implications that lie ahead. PAAS has researched the issue and wants to help your pharmacy respond to these egregious attacks on your business.
SPECIAL: Join PAAS for 1 year, instead of 2 years today to get assistance with this recoupment.
Call us at (608) 873-1342 or go to ‘Buy Now’ to join today!
PAAS’ insight and proactive guidance will help you build an audit wall around your pharmacy. We want to save you vast amounts of TIME and MONEY. See why more than 5,000 pharmacies across the US agree. As a member, you receive an unlimited amount of one-on-one audit assistance—as much as you need!
PHI Access and Release for Deceased Patients
According to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the Privacy Rule allows for pharmacies to disclose PHI about a deceased patient to person(s) involved in the individual’s health care prior to their death, unless doing so is going against the patient’s documented requests. If under law an executor, administrator, or similar individual has the authority to act on behalf of the deceased patient, a pharmacy can treat that person as a personal representative with respect to disclosing PHI.
Did you know there is much more to your audit assistance membership than just help with audits? The PAAS Member Portal contains a wealth of information and resources to assist you with audits and member service questions. Below is a list of 6 pages found on the Audit Assistance section of the PAAS Member Portal to assist you and your pharmacy staff to be proactive when it comes to audits.
PAAS Tips:
As Seen in Fortune: Pharmacies Face Extra Audit Burdens …
PAAS National® provided data for the article “Pharmacies face extra audit burdens that threaten their existence” published August 6, 2021 on Fortune.com:
According to data from PAAS National, a pharmacy audit assistance service, while the number of pharmacy audits in 2020 declined nearly 14% from the year before, the overall number of prescriptions reviewed went up 40%. That meant pharmacies had to provide more documentation and stood to lose much more money if auditors could find any reason — even minor clerical errors — to deny payments.
The average audit in 2020 cost pharmacies $23,978, 35% more than the annual average over the previous five years, the PAAS data shows. And the number of prescriptions reviewed in September and October was fourfold over what PAAS members had seen in previous years.
And Trent Thiede, President at PAAS National® was quoted:
Trent Thiede, president of PAAS National®, said many of the more than 5,000 pharmacies he works with stepped up to offer covid testing and shots and to become an even bigger resource for customers during this health crisis. “With vaccinations in full swing, priorities should be focused on serving patients and our communities, not responding to audit requests,” Thiede said.
When auditors come in person, they primarily do the review themselves, occasionally asking pharmacists to pull additional documentation.
“In these virtual audits, you have to pull the prescription, put it through a copier of some kind, get everything aggregated, get all the signature logs. They want your license off the wall. They want all the employee licenses faxed,” Thiede said. “It’s a lot more laborious for these pharmacies.”
Read the complete article here from the beginning
Pharmacies Facing More Payment Denials During Pandemic’s Virtual Audits
By Katie Adams. Published August 6, 2021 in Becker’s Hospital Review
Already marred from COVID-19 burnout and years of financial threats, independent pharmacies’ latest woe is pharmacy benefits managers’ shift to virtual audits during the pandemic. Independent pharmacies say the new process allows for significantly more claims to be denied and allege the practice is predatory, Kaiser Health News reported Aug. 6.
The number of pharmacy audits conducted in 2020 actually decreased by nearly 14 percent from the previous year, but the overall number of prescriptions reviewed increased by 40 percent, according to data from pharmacy audit assistance service PAAS National®. The data showed the number of prescriptions reviewed in September and October increased fourfold from what PAAS reported in previous years.
When PBMs conducted these reviews in-person, they sent an auditor who would perform the process and occasionally seek additional documentation from a pharmacist. The virtual process means pharmacies face an increased administrative burden and stand to lose much more money, a change imposed when they were scrambling to take care of patients during the pandemic.
Continue reading the full article here
Pharmacies Face Extra Audit Burdens That Threaten Their Existence
By Markian Hawryluk, Published August 6, 2021 by Kaiser Health News
The clock was about to strike midnight, and Scott Newman was desperately feeding pages into a scanner, trying to prevent thousands of dollars in prescription payments from turning into a pumpkin.
As the owner of Newman Family Pharmacy, an independent drugstore in Chesapeake, Virginia, he was responding to an audit ordered by a pharmacy benefit manager, an intermediary company that handles pharmacy payments for health insurance companies. The audit notice had come in January as he was scrambling to become certified to provide covid-19 vaccines, and it had slipped his mind. Then, a month later, a final notice reminded him he needed to get 120 pages of documents supporting some 30 prescription claims scanned and uploaded by the end of the day.
“I was sure I’d be missing pages,” he recalled. “So I was rescanning stuff for the damn file.”
Every page mattered. Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, suspended in-person audits because of covid last year, shifting to virtual audits, much as in-person doctor visits shifted to telehealth. Amid added pandemic pressure, that means pharmacists such as Newman are bearing significantly more workload for the audits. It also has allowed benefit managers to review — and potentially deny — more pharmacy claims than ever before.
According to data from PAAS National, a pharmacy audit assistance service, while the number of pharmacy audits in 2020 declined nearly 14% from the year before, the overall number of prescriptions reviewed went up 40%. That meant pharmacies had to provide more documentation and stood to lose much more money if auditors could find any reason — even minor clerical errors — to deny payments.
The average audit in 2020 cost pharmacies $23,978, 35% more than the annual average over the previous five years, the PAAS data shows. And the number of prescriptions reviewed in September and October was fourfold over what PAAS members had seen in previous years.
Continue reading the complete article here
Facing Potential Disciplinary Action? PBMs Require Notification!
It can be a very stressful time for a pharmacy when they, or an employee, are being investigated by a regulatory body (e.g., Board of Pharmacy, Office of Inspector General (OIG) or Drug Enforcement Agency). It will likely not be the first thing on your mind to notify contracted PBMs. Consider
Did you know there is much more to your audit assistance membership than just help with audits? The PAAS Member Portal contains a wealth of information and resources to assist you with audits and member service questions. Below is a list of 6 pages found on the Audit Assistance section of the PAAS Member Portal to assist you and your pharmacy staff to be proactive when it comes to audits.
PAAS Tips:
These situations often arise after re-credentialing as PBMs are reviewing the credentials of pharmacy employees. PAAS National® has successfully assisted pharmacies facing Network Termination due to a failure to notify. Notify PAAS right away if you’ve received a Letter of Warning (Contract Violation) leading to a breach of the Provider Agreement.
AmerisourceBergen ThoughtSpot 2021: Navigating Pharmacy Audits Amidst a Pandemic
Pharmacy audits continue to morph as Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) develop new methods to recoup prescription claims. Understanding the many facets of the audit process, including triggers, trends, and prevention strategies will enable your pharmacy to be more successful in an audit situation.
On Tuesday, August 3, 2021 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. EST, Trent Thiede, President at PAAS National® and Tracie Acosta, Manager of Provider Network Quality Compliance from Elevate Provider Network will be virtually presenting Navigating Pharmacy Audits Amidst a Pandemic in an online CE webinar at the AmerisourceBergen ThoughtSpot 2021.
Time will also be spent discussing the unique challenges immunizations, 340B claims, compounds, and LTC prescriptions present on audits. Takeaways from this session include:
For catching this webinar session and more, visit the ThoughtSpot 2021 website: https://www.wearegnp.com/thoughtspot2021
Announcing the new PAASNational.com
After many months of hard work and dedication from our team, we are pleased to announce that on June 22, 2021 we launched the new PAAS National® website paasnational.com.
The primary goal of the redesign was to create a valuable, mobile friendly resource for visitors to access information on PAAS Audit Assistance and Fraud, Waste & Abuse/HIPAA Compliance services and keep up-to-date on news and events. Visitors can also easily view the different membership offerings at https://paasnational.com/buy-now/.
PAAS members have access to the PAAS member portal by clicking the “Member Login” button in the upper right hand corner of the screen to unlock the resources available with their specific membership type, which may include: audit assistance, proactive tips, on-site credentialing tools, days’ supply charts, COVID-19 resources, recorded webinars, guidance on filling and billing prescriptions, policy and procedure manual, risk analysis, FWA/HIPAA training, OIG & GSA exclusion list checking and more.
The website also includes member testimonials and audit assistance results. We love hearing from our members at info@paasnational.com and we have made it easier to refer a friend: https://paasnational.com/refer-a-friend/
We hope you enjoy the new website! For any suggestions, questions or comments please contact us: https://paasnational.com/contact/
Celebrating 1 Year of License Tracking with the PAAS Vault
This month at PAAS National® we celebrate one year of the launch of the PAAS Vault. This product was developed to help pharmacies access their important documents easily, and safely store them securely in one central location. Available to you at your fingertips 24/7 to assist in reducing the stress of having to search for each document.
From our members:
“We are a small ma/pa shop. We renewed the PAAS Vault as we can see how easy it is for renewals during that time of the year.”
“Our pharmacy was previously in the need of a better way to track the expiration of our licenses, certificates, insurance, contracts, etc. The PAAS vault provided us the ability to have one web-based platform that was able to house the necessary documents needed to maintain compliance as well as track upcoming expiration dates. The trial has been very valuable. It has allowed me to play around with the features of this new service and see first-hand the benefit it provides to our compliance program. The part I like best is that I can attach physical documents as well as enter expiration dates where I can quickly see on the dashboard page upcoming expirations that need to be addressed. I would like to be able to use this service in an expanded way in the future. For example being able to store payer audit documents/findings, board of pharmacy inspection reports, and payer contracts for easy retrieval.”
“Going to be really useful. I forgot to renew one and that shouldn’t happen now with the [PAAS] Vault program. About 2/3 of the way done entering info. I really like the reminders, so nothing slips through the cracks. Great safety net.”
“We like the [PAAS] Vault and having everything at your finger tips and easily accessible. It is an easy application, easy to upload files, reminders auto send out and will save alot of last minute scrambling and headaches.”
“Keep track of licenses, as we currently just have reminders set-up on our calendar. The trial has been valuable to us, which is an add-on for FWAC members at $99/year after the trial period.”
PAAS National® FWA/HIPAA Compliance members that have added the PAAS Vault can upload, retrieve, and print their documents fast and easy with just a few clicks. With the custom alerts and reminders, the PAAS Vault makes it is easy to know when these documents need renewing as well.
Let us know if you have any questions or concerns on how to use the PAAS Vault. Compliance Officers and Administrators can also refer to the PAAS Vault User Guide found on the Help page of the PAAS Portal.
Not a PAAS FWA/HIPAA compliance member? Contact us today at (608) 873-1342 or info@paasnational.com and save $120 by combining services with PAAS Audit Assistance.
Webinar: Thriving Against PBM Audits – Audit Trends and PBM Tactics
On June 23, 2021 PAAS National® hosted Thriving Against PBM Audits – Audit Trends and PBM Tactics webinar. PAAS Audit Assistance members have access to the recorded webinar, in addition to many other tools and resources on the PAAS Member Portal.
This webinar reviews: