Can Your EHR Template Put You in Jail?

If your electronic health record (EHR) template is not set up properly and leads you to incorrect billing, it can result in imprisonment.

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In recent years, we have heard from many of our clients that their compliance plans have received less attention than usual due to the pandemic, staffing issues, and other pressing issues.

However, compliance enforcement is ongoing and it is important to prioritize your compliance plan.

A Delaware doctor has just been convicted of a $5 million fraud scheme.

The doctor billed Medicare for injections he didn’t make up the bill for. He billed for the injections that he did not have the necessary equipment to give injections to patients.

He hasn’t been punished yet, but is facing up 10 years in prison for each of the 11 counts of fraud.

If you are using an EHR template, you need to make sure your practice has it set up correctly. Otherwise, it may indicate that you are using equipment that you do not own or performing services that you are unable to actually perform.

While that doesn’t appear to be the case with Delaware doctors, we’ve seen issues with templates causing inappropriate automatic selection and inappropriate billing that needed fixing.

A simple oversight or error can lead to billing errors. It is important that you have a thorough and effective compliance plan in place to find any issues and vulnerabilities, especially with regard to your EHR.

We help our clients perform the necessary functions to avoid fines and possible imprisonment.

We often recommend that healthcare entities:

  • Audit their billing and EHR templates,
  • Update their policies and procedures,
  • Train their employees,
  • and ensuring that all of their compliance programs run smoothly.

If you have questions or need assistance regarding a compliance program, audit, or EHR template, contact Rickard & Associates today.

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