Review of Medicare Inpatient Bad Debts at Mercy Catholic Medical Center, Conshohocken, Pennsylvania for Calendar Year 1999

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The objective of our audit was to determine if Medicare inpatient bad debts claimed by Mercy Catholic Medical Center (MCMC) on its cost report for calendar year (CY) 1999 met Medicare requirements.  The MCMC claimed inpatient bad debts of $543,285.  Our audit found that, for the most part, MCMC claimed inpatient bad debts on its CY 1999 cost report that met Medicare reimbursement requirements.  We noted some minor exceptions to the amounts claimed and questioned $1,848 in bad debt claims.  We are recommending that MCMC: (1) coordinate with the Fiscal Intermediary (FI) to adjust their CY 1999 cost report by $1,848 for overstated inpatient bad debts and (2) use the results of our audit to stress to its employees the need to use correct data in generating Medicare claims.