Financial Consultants of Alaska & Washington

FINANCIAL CONSULTANTS OF ALASKA & WASHINGTON (FCAW) was founded in 1979 to service the needs of health care clients within the State of Alaska and Washington. Clients range from large acute care facilities including critical access and long term care facilities; to small rural health clinics; Federally Qualified Health Centers; as well as Community Health Care Centers, and physician clinics.

FCAW has designed feasibility models with impacts for many Critical Access Facility clients while assisting them in obtaining CAH designation We provide a diverse range of compliance services that have the potential to positively impact Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement to organizations throughout the country.

FCAW has obtained many special designations and exceptions from Medicare and Medicaid resulting in increased reimbursement to the small rural non-profit and governmental facilities. FCAW stands alone in this unique specialization and the in-depth financial assistance provided to the rural facilities and clinics. Over the past nine years, FCAW has focused on fraud audits and has had great success reducing paybacks and penalties for providers impacted by the surge of Medicare and Medicaid Fraud Audits, The many layers of audits from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) the Medicare Administrative Contractors/intermediaries and Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC) have made maneuvering through the land mines extremely overwhelming.

FCAW is currently conducting presentations and training sessions to prepare facility administrators, CFO’s, managers, and staff on fraud audit preparedness strategies. FCAW has developed a fraud audit kit with compliance tips for being proactive against the overwhelming wave of fraud audits. FCAW assists clients to create an effective work team and design a compliance plan to greatly reduce potential exposure on the audits. By monitoring OIG key targeted compliance issues, and RAC contractors focus, FCAW identifies potential problems and process a facility may be experiencing that makes it as a target of fraud audits.

FCAW can reduce the burden on facility resources in responding to and dealing with auditors. Working with compliance staff, FCAW assists with development of an action plan in response to an audit and reviews documentation requested for audits prior to a facility sending it to auditors to ensure appropriate and adequate information is included.

FCAW staff has been very successful in assisting facilities resolve reimbursement and billing issues. Clients have recaptured dollars in otherwise lost claims. Our firm represents health care clients on appeals for Medicare and Medicaid and other third parties.

Supporting clients in Medicare and Medicaid appeals is an FCAW focus. In collaboration with client attorneys, FCAW prepares supporting documents including exhibits and legal briefs. Over the last 30+ years Donna Herbert, FCAW’s owner, has offered expert testimony on many successful appeal cases at the Superior Court or Supreme Court level resulting in millions of dollars recovered on behalf of clients.