Audit Your Vouchers and Prevent Fraud with Nice HMS

Abstract
Billing fraud in healthcare can lead to significant financial losses, often amounting to 30-40 lakh rupees annually. To combat this, Nice HMS, an ABDM Triple Milestone Certified Hospital Information Management System, introduces the Audit Voucher module. This feature ensures billing staff cannot manipulate data, as vouchers cannot be deleted or altered (except by Admin). Errors are corrected via reverse vouchers, maintaining a clear audit trail. The module restricts access to authorized roles, promotes accountability, and supports fraud prevention through practices like minimizing cash handling and mandatory hard copy signatures. Nice HMS empowers hospitals to safeguard financial integrity and prevent revenue leakage.Nice HMS is an ABDM Triple Milestone Certified Hospital Information Management System. In the healthcare sector, billing fraud is not uncommon and can lead to significant financial losses, ranging from 30 to 40 lakh rupees annually for some hospitals. To combat this issue, hospitals need a robust system to prevent billing fraud.
To address this challenge, Nice HMS has introduced a new module called Audit Voucher. The primary objective of this module is to ensure that staff responsible for billing cannot manipulate the data entered into the Hospital Information Management System (HIMS). This added layer of security helps safeguard your hospital's financial integrity and prevents potential revenue leakage.
What is the Audit Voucher?
When billing a patient at the billing counter, the billing staff creates vouchers. Once these vouchers are created, they cannot be deleted or altered (except by the Admin). In case of an error, the staff can only pass a reverse voucher to negate the original transaction. For example:
- An invoice can be negated by a credit note.
- A receipt can be negated by a payment.
This process allows for the correction of mistakes while maintaining a clear audit trail of all transactions, enabling hospital authorities to detect and prevent fraud.
Key Features of Audit Voucher:
1. Prevention of Voucher Deletion or Alteration: Vouchers, once created, cannot be deleted or altered, ensuring data integrity (except by the Admin).
2. Reverse Vouchers for Corrections: Errors can be corrected by passing reverse vouchers, maintaining a transparent audit trail.
3. Authority Verification: The Audit Voucher module allows hospital authorities to verify transactions, ensuring accountability and transparency.
Best Practices for Fraud Prevention:
- Minimize Cash Handling: Avoid cash transactions as much as possible. Use checks for payments (giving away money) to significantly reduce the risk of fraud.
- Mandatory Hard Copy Signatures: Always require hard copies of credit note vouchers and payment vouchers to be signed by the concerned authority (e.g., owner or consultant) before processing. This ensures that any cancellation of billed items is properly authorized.
Audit Voucher in Nice HMS:
The Audit Voucher feature is available in the Enterprise and Large Enterprise versions of Nice HMS. Access to this feature is restricted to specific roles, including Admin, Accountant, and Receptionist_Account. However, not all users in these roles have automatic access. The Admin must enable this feature by marking the appropriate checkbox in the user edit module.
Once activated, users can access the Accounts module from the side panel. From there, they can click on Voucher Audit and select the type and state of the vouchers. There are two states:
- Waiting: Audit is still pending.
- Accepted: Audit has been completed.
Additional Recommendations:
- Strict Authorization for Vouchers: Ensure that credit note vouchers and payment vouchers are not processed without a hard copy signed by the concerned authority, such as the owner or a consultant advising the cancellation of billed items.
- Regular Audits: Conduct regular audits of all vouchers to detect and prevent any irregularities.
- Limit Admin Access: Since only the Admin can delete or alter vouchers, ensure that Admin access is restricted to highly trusted personnel.
Conclusion:
Billing fraud is a serious issue that can lead to substantial financial losses for hospitals. With the Audit Voucher module in Nice HMS, hospitals now have a powerful tool to prevent such fraud by ensuring data integrity, maintaining a transparent audit trail, and enabling authority verification. By adopting best practices such as minimizing cash handling, requiring mandatory hard copy signatures, and conducting regular audits, hospitals can further strengthen their defenses against fraudulent activities.
Nice HMS remains committed to providing innovative solutions that enhance operational efficiency, security, and financial integrity for healthcare institutions. Embrace the Audit Voucher module and take a proactive step towards safeguarding your hospital's revenue and reputation.
Stay tuned for more updates on how Nice HMS continues to revolutionize healthcare management with cutting-edge features!
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