Doctors' habit of copying and pasting notes in their EHRs has come under increasing fire from those who suspect that they're using this method to justify higher charges to Medicare and private payers. In October 2012, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) launched an investigation into this practice, and OIG recently issued a report that said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) wasn't providing sufficient guidance to its contractors to detect this kind of fraud. CMS promised to redouble its efforts. Some healthcare consultants believe that the government's crusade is misguided and that efforts to train physicians to use EHRs more effectively would be more valuable.
