Medicare audits on hold

The Department of Human Services is writing to the many dentists directly affected by the Medicare Chronic Disease Dental Scheme audit process. The letters will say that until the Government has considered what changes are necessary to allow greater flexibility in compliance arrangements all audit activity is on hold, except where there are issues of public safety or fraud that require investigation. Debt recovery and the finalisation of the internal review of audit findings are also on hold.
If changes are made to the Determination, a review will then be conducted of all audit findings made by the Department of Human Services since the start of the CDDS in 2007. As part of this action, audits in the process of completion will also be reviewed and finalised in line with the new requirements. This will also include the audit findings of those who have already been audited and had their cases closed.

In a message to ADA members, ADA Inc. President Dr Shane Fryer says that he “cannot give any guarantees, (but) it appears that the Government has heard our concerns, is taking appropriate steps to address the issues faced by dentists and thus the new determination will better reflect appropriate pathways for referral and treatment to meet a dental context rather than a bureaucratic process.

“It is important to note however, that the current rules attached to the provision of services to patients under the CDDS still exist, and in order to make a claim under the Scheme, dentists must fully comply with all of the administrative requirements set out in the current determination.”