WSHA recently received an update from Health Care Authority (HCA) staff regarding the status of payments following the audit of Medicaid electronic health record (EHR) incentive payments. HCA informed WSHA that additional payments have now been sent to all but a handful of the underpaid hospitals. HCA expects to resolve system issues and make payment to the remaining hospitals shortly. HCA has issued preliminary notices and will soon begin scheduling dispute conferences with those hospitals that were determined to have been overpaid according to the audit. Once HCA completes that process, they will begin issuing notices of the final findings for the overpayments, including notification of the hospital’s hearing rights.
The audits of EHR incentive payments followed a federal Office of Inspector General report that Washington State and other states made errors in the calculation of incentive payments. According to subsequent audits performed by HCA contractor, Myers and Stauffer, some hospitals were overpaid, while other hospitals were underpaid and owed additional money. If you have questions regarding the status of your hospital, please contact Mike Brown, HCA’s Office of Legal Affairs at (360) 725-1481 or michael.brown@hca.wa.gov.
