On June 5, 2015 a presoliciation
notice was issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) indicating
that they will be issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) to solicit services for
the Unified Program Integrity Contractor (UPIC). The UPIC will combine and integrate
existing CMS program integrity functions carried out by multiple contractors
and contracts into a single contractor.
As a result, UPICs will perform many of the functions
currently contracted to ZPICs and MICs. For CMS integrity contractors, this
consolidation will result in more data and knowledge about healthcare claims
and payments. For the provider community, this will mean increased and improved
surveillance as well as the potential for more government scrutiny of claims
payments by federal healthcare programs. To learn more about CMS’s intentions
around the creation of the UPIC, click here.