Item 8.01 Other Events
Since September 2008, the Company has been responding to and addressing an
administrative subpoena from the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel
Management (OPM). OPM is an administrative agency responsible for overseeing the
Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP). FEHBP participants contract
with private payors, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, United, etc., so they are
not readily distinguishable from any other private pay participant. Therefore,
we do not track FEHBP participants as a separate group. Although we do not track
the volume of services the Company provides under the FEHBP program, based on an
internal review we believe that the volume is immaterial.
Although the subpoena was issued by OPM and we understood the subpoena and
OPM's review to be limited to the FEHBP, the Company learned on July 9th that
the scope of the review is not limited to the FEHBP, but also extends to
services provided to Medicare beneficiaries. At this time there is no clear
indication from OPM as to the scope or purpose of the review other than a focus
on third-party quality improvement audits performed on the Company's behalf from
2005 to present. The Company will continue to cooperate and provide responsive
information for the OPM review.
The Company has always maintained a strong commitment to compliance. Below is
a brief summary of some of our more recent compliance efforts:
• As reported in the first quarter of this year, we engaged Deloitte & Touche,
LLP to assist in evaluating and redesigning our corporate compliance program.
• With the procedures implemented as part of our work with Deloitte, Simione
Consultants, a nationally recognized home health consulting firm, has been
engaged to serve as our independent compliance review firm. In the future, our
compliance department will review and respond to any Simione findings.
• Since 2004, the Company has used a regional firm to assist our quality
improvement team, which consists of experienced home health nurses, to review
and improve our overall patient care. We understand that the quality improvement
audits performed by this firm are a focus of the OPM review. As part of their
new role, Simione has been engaged to review each of our external quality
improvement audits received from 2005 to present to determine if any amounts
need to be repaid to the government for records audited. Thus far, Simione has
audited two years worth of reports for 10 home health agencies and the total
payback was
approximately $28,000. Simione will complete its full review by the end of the
third quarter and any amounts owed will be repaid on an ongoing basis and
reflected in our financial statements. At this time, we do not anticipate that
the results of the Simione review will have a material impact on our financial
results.
• In 2009, the Company implemented a 100% pre-bill audit procedure on all visits
prior to billing. Each visit is audited manually by clinicians in the field for
compliance with the physician order and documentation requirements. The
associated claim is held until the physician orders and documentation is
complete.