REPORT ON EHR COMPLIANCE: What Providers are Not Doing

The Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General, has issued a report entitled “CMS and Its Contractors Have Adopted Few Program Integrity Practices to Address Vulnerabilities in EHRs.

According to the OIG, few Medicare contractors were effectively utilizing EHRs, and most still utilized paper medical records.  Much of the report is devoted to guidance that can be offered t providers by CMS, especially on detecting fraud in the medical records.   CMS should also assist with providing information on what is necessary in the EHR file, and electronic signatures.