Mercy LIFE Receives Favorable Audit

WEST SPRINGFIELD — On the heels of a celebration marking its first full year of service, Mercy LIFE has received a successful initial audit from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Massachusetts Medicaid.

The audit yielded a single deficiency regarding failure to include regulatory language in a contract with an outside agency, and corrective action has been taken to bring that contract into compliance with the standard.

Mercy LIFE, a Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE, serves frail elders who are eligible for nursing-home-level care by providing comprehensive services that allow them to remain healthy, safe, and independent at home. Following this initial audit, Mercy LIFE will be reviewed by CMS and Massachusetts Medicaid every two years.

“With a strong commitment to service excellence, our colleagues throughout Mercy LIFE embrace the responsibility of caring for those entrusted to us. This audit provides valuable information that we welcome as an opportunity to improve our program,” said Joseph Larkin, executive directorm of Mercy LIFE.

The on-site audit, conducted recently over three days, included the review of participants’ charts, interviews with staff, observation of program operations (such as marketing, participant services, enrollment and disenrollment procedures, grievances, and appeals), as well as comprehensive assessments of the program’s fiscal soundness and capacity to furnish all PACE services to all participants.