Open Books

Open books may be the most critical issue facing Emergency Medicine today. Open books simply means that the working emergency physician has access to the information summarizing what fees have been billed and collected on his/her behalf. Too often, however, a contract management company will hide this information from its working EPs, keeping them in the dark both as to their true monetary value to the practice and the amount of profit the company is skimming off the top.

AAEM's stand that emergency physicians have the right to see what is billed and collected on their half is supported by such organizations as the American Medical Association, the Health Care Financing Administration, and the Office of the Inspector General, as evidenced by the following items:

• Contacting Your Medicare Carrier (added 1/28/05)
• Individual Responsibility for Honest Billings (added 1/22/01)
• AMA Policies Regarding Open Books
• HCFA Makes No Distinction Between Employee and Independent Contractor Physicians
• AMA Policy on Physician Review of Billings and Remittances Made on Their Behalf
• HCFA Answers the Contract Companies
• Testimony of Lewis Morris, Assistant Inspector General for Legal Affairs, OIG, before the House Committee on Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, regarding Medicare and Third-Party Billing Companies
• OIG Clarifies Need for Open Books (added 8/14/00)

AAEM is committed to promoting and protecting an emergency physician's right to see what is billed and collected on his/her behalf. Recent actions in this area include:

• AAEM Open Books Policy
• AAEM Urges OIG To Include Open Books Language in Proposed Compliance Program