AHA survey: 60% of RAC reviewed claims did not have an overpayment

Hospitals continue to appeal Recovery Audit Contractor claim denials, according to the latest report from the AHA's quarterly RACTrac survey. Hospitals report appealing 45% of all RAC claim denials, and 60% of claims reviewed in the second quarter of 2016 were found to not have an overpayment. Hospitals also report that RACs cite inpatient coding error as the most common reason for complex claim denials. Three in four claims appealed to an administrative law judge took longer than the statutory limit of 90 days to provide a determination to the hospital, according to the report. Hospital representatives are invited to attend a webinar Oct. 18 at 2 p.m. ET to review the survey results and recent RAC policy developments. The free, web-based survey helps AHA monitor the impact of RACs and advocate for needed changes to the program. All hospitals can submit their third quarter data to the RACTrac survey through Oct. 21. To register for the survey or for technical assistance, contact RACTrac support at (888) 722-8712 or ractracsupport@providercs.com.