Questions and Answers OIG Letter QuestionsTenet today announced that it had received an audit request from the Kansas City office of the Office of Audit Services of the Department of Health and Human Services. The letter states that the objective of the audit is to determine whether outlier payments to Tenet hospitals were paid in accordance with Medicare laws and regulations.

Specifically, the letter states that the audit will concentrate on certain components of the formula used to calculate outlier payments. The company expects that the audit will enable it to have a full and frank discussion with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services about the factors that have contributed to Tenet’s outlier payments. We are pleased to cooperate with this audit, as we are confident that it will demonstrate that our hospitals did, in fact, obey the rules governing outlier payments.

Q: Is the OIG accusing Tenet of systemically defrauding Medicare?
No. This is an audit. The Office of Audit Services is seeking to determine whether outlier payments to Tenet hospitals were paid in accordance with Medicare laws and regulations. We are pleased to cooperate with this audit, as we are confident that it will demonstrate that our hospitals did, in fact, obey the rules.

Q: Is this related to the Redding Medical Center issue?
We have no reason to believe that the Redding Medical Center situation is anything other than an isolated case regarding the practice patterns of two physicians at one hospital.

Q: How many hospitals will be audited?
We do not know. We are pleased to cooperate with this audit, as we are confident that it will demonstrate that our hospitals did, in fact, obey the rules.

Q: Did we delay reporting the results of the Department of Health and Human Services audit?
Reports are circulating that Tenet received notification more than one week ago of an audit by the Office of Audit Services of the Department of Health and Human Services of Medicare outlier payments at its hospitals. In fact, an individual in our government programs department received a courtesy telephone call from the DHHS's regional office in Kansas City, Mo., on Monday Oct. 28, saying Tenet would be receiving a letter formally notifying the company of the audit within a couple of days. The letter arrived on Tuesday, Nov. 5 and we issued a press release the following morning.