The
DRS Group
Announces New Turnkey
Service that Provides Medical Records Electronic
Formatting for Ongoing Medicare Recovery Act Contractor
(RAC) Audits
DRS Announces RACexpress™, a Complete RAC Document
Conversion Solution for Hospitals and Medical Clinics
New York City –
September 16, 2009 – The DRS Imaging Group announced
today that it is offering a turnkey document preparation
solution – the
RACexpress - for
hospitals and medical clinics who must respond to
ongoing records audit requests by RAC in a timely
fashion.
Beginning January 1, 2010,
hospitals, clinics, hospices and medical practitioners
who process Medicare claims will be subjected to audits
of random medical records conducted by a regional
Recovery Act Contractors under the auspices of the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
During the past three years, a test program has proven
immensely successful in recovery over a billion dollars
of excess Medicare claim payments, and Congress has now
made RAC audits permanent law. Up to 200 medical
records, each usually consisting of several hundred
paper documents, may be requested by the regional RAC
for auditing very forty-five to sixty days. Requested
records are required to be in a specific electronic
format compatible with the auditing systems of the
regional RAC.
DRS has launched the
RACexpress as a turnkey solution to relive hospitals and
medical clinics of the ongoing burden of providing
requested medical records for RAC audits in the required
electronic format. RACexpress is designed to work on a
rotating schedule, performing paper record conversions
onsite or at one of the DRS local facilities as the need
arises. Whenever a medical institution receives a new
RAC audit request for specific medical records, they
simply call DRS who thereafter handles all aspects of
document preparation. The end result is a CD or DVD
delivered to the medical facility containing indexed
records in an electronic format guaranteed to be
compatible with their RAC’s auditing system. The charge
for the RACexpress service is targeted to be within the
amount medical facilities are reimbursed by CMS for
document preparation fees.
The DRS Group is one of the
oldest and largest service bureaus in the United
States. It offers a complete line of document
management services including imaging, data capture,
micrographics and secure online document archiving and
retrieval. The company is a leader in document
conversions for local, state and federal government
agencies; financial institutions; hospitals; and major
corporations. With eleven production facilities along
the eastern seaboard, The DRS Group currently converts
more than 100 million documents each year.
Medical records are
converted to the required electronic format in secure
facilities that ensure patient confidentiality. "Our
RACexpress solution is fully HIPAA compliant," notes Jim
Sheridan, executive vice president of DRS.
"The RACexpress is intended
to be a win-win solution for everyone," explains Cliff
Newman, DRS' chief executive officer, “It helps
hospitals and clinics because they don’t have to acquire
additional personnel and equipment to comply with RAC
audit demands. DRS already has the expertise, resources
and experience to quickly and easily handle the records
formatting aspect of RAC audits. We understand the
specific formatting requirements of each regional
Contractor.”
Paul Solomon, the DRS chief
operating officer, agrees, "The packaged RACexpress
solution allows us to set up a rotating schedule to be
on-call whenever a hospital or clinic receives a new RAC
audit request. At that point, we simply step in and
handle all records preparation tasks – it’s a painless
solution that allows medical facilities to continue to
focus their activities on managing their businesses and
caring for patients. And we can normally accomplish the
RACexpress service within the amount customers receive
from CMS to cover document scanning expenses, so
out-of-pocket costs are negligible."
The medical industry is
already facing increased pressure to transform paper
files to electronic medical records for enhanced
efficiency and patient safety. Plus they must train
doctors and nurse on electronic order entry (CPOE).
Adding ongoing RAC audits to this growing burden could
inhibit progress. Hence, the ability of the DRS
RACexpress to mitigate the impact of RAC audits is a
timely solution, especially when it presents a
break-even alternative for hospitals and clinics.
About The DRS Group
Founded in 1964, The DRS Group is an authorized Canon
dealer. The company offers a complete line of document
management services including imaging, data capture,
micrographics and Check 21 solutions. The DRS Group is a
leader in document conversions for local, state and
federal government agencies; financial institutions;
hospitals; and major corporations. Currently, the
company’s production facilities convert more than 100
million documents each year making The DRS Group one of
the largest service companies of its kind.
The DRS Group provides secure capture, management,
delivery and preservation of critical information. The
DRS provides paper, digital and film-based document
preparation, scanning, indexing, and conversion services
at either your site ("DRS On-Site") or our facility; DRS
features a robust web presentment and storage solution,
offering scalable content management technologies; DRS
allows desktop storage of documents on your network or
CD/DVD; DRS offers document and image output and
management solutions to digital and analog media; and
DRS Professional Services address your document
consulting needs for virtually every enterprise
environment with leadership, experience and advanced
technical expertise. Additional information may be found
at the company's Website:
www.drsimaging.com.
DRS Media Contact:
Jim Sheridan
Executive Vice President
(212) 924-8738
jsheridan@drsimaging.com
