American Health Information Management Association. Position statement. Issue: physician signatures on attestations

Currently, payment under Medicare's prospective payment system requires that a physician sign an attestation statement on each Medicare patient, attesting to the diagnoses and procedures recorded for that patient. This requirement places a significant administrative burden on both healthcare facilities and physicians, without adding any value to the claims process. AHIMA believes this requirement should be eliminated. Physicians should continue to be responsible for recording complete, accurate, and timely information (including final diagnoses and procedures) in the patient's health record. Healthcare facilities and their health information management professionals should be held responsible for reporting complete and accurate diagnoses and procedures based on official coding guidelines and documentation in the patient's health record. Sufficient penalties exist for healthcare facilities and physicians who submit fraudulent claims, without subjecting all physicians and healthcare facilities to this administrative burden, which adds unnecessarily to the cost of healthcare.