Electronic Submission of Medical Docs Trial Goes Live

This is part one in a series covering various topics in the world of recovery auditors. Part one focuses on CMS's esMD (Electronic Submission of Medical Documentation) program.

A year ago this month, CMS announced its esMD tool, which is an option for providers to electronically send medical documentation that is requested of them by recovery auditors and other government entities contractors. 

Phase 1 of esMD kicked off on September 15, 2011. During this period, providers will still receive medical documentation requests via paper mail, but will have the option to electronically send their documentation to the requesting review contractor.

Region D recovery auditor HealthDataInsights plans to participate in the program starting this month, and Region C recovery auditor Connolly next month.

Benefits of  the esMD gateway
Ask any provider currently involved in its facility's recovery audit program—or any government auditing contractor, for that matter—and they won't hesitate to illustrate some of the correspondence issues that they are experiencing with the respective reviewing contractor. With the implementation of esMD, providers may find a decreasing administrative burden and improved submission tracking when it comes to record requests, suggests Amanda Berglund, MS, MBA, COO, Pace Healthcare Consulting, LLC.

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