Acronym(s) of the Day: HAC and OIG

HAC: Hospital Acquired Conditions

Section 5001(c) of Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 requires the Secretary to identify conditions that are: (a) high cost or high volume or both, (b) result in the assignment of a case to a DRG that has a higher payment when present as a secondary diagnosis, and (c) could reasonably have been prevented through the application of evidence‑based guidelines.

On July 31, 2008, in the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 Final Rule, CMS included 10 categories of conditions that were selected for the HAC payment provision. The IPPS FY 2009 Final Rule is available in the Statute/Regulations/Program Instructions section, accessible through the navigation menu at left.

The 10 categories of HACs include:

1. Foreign Object Retained After Surgery
2. Air Embolism
3. Blood Incompatibility
4. Stage III and IV Pressure Ulcers
5. Falls and Trauma
   -Fractures
   -Dislocations
   -Intracranial Injuries
   -Crushing Injuries
   -Burns
   -Electric Shock
6. Manifestations of Poor Glycemic Control
   -Diabetic Ketoacidosis
   -Nonketotic Hyperosmolar Coma
   -Hypoglycemic Coma
   -Secondary Diabetes with Ketoacidosis
   -Secondary Diabetes with Hyperosmolarity
7. Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)
8. Vascular Catheter-Associated Infection
9. Surgical Site Infection Following:
10. Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)/Pulmonary Embolism (PE)

Payment implications will begin October 1, 2008, for these 10 categories of HACs.
https://www.cms.gov/HospitalAcqCond/06_Hospital-Acquired_Conditions.asp

OIG: Office of the Inspector General

Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is an office that is part of Cabinet departments and independent agencies of the United States federal government as well as some state and local governments. Each office includes an Inspector General and employees charged with identifying, auditing, and investigating fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement within the parent agency.

HHS-OIG investigates tens of millions of dollars in Medicare fraud each year. In addition, OIG will continue its coverage of all 50 States and the District of Columbia by its multi-agency task forces (PSOC Task Forces) that identify, investigate, and prosecute individuals who willfully avoid payment of their child support obligations under the Child Support Recovery Act.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice_Office_of_the_Inspector_General