Advisory council presses for auditing after vendor's repair-timeliness data raise doubts

Advocates on the wheelchair repair advisory council pressed for more transparent, auditable reporting after one vendor's monthly submission showed implausibly fast turnaround times. The group said the vendor's summary—an average of seven days for assessment and seven days from call to completed repair—does not square with members' experience and asked for redacted case-level data the council could examine.

The council's discussion centered on whether the vendor's reported averages could be validated without revealing protected health information. Members proposed a process for sending questions in advance of meetings, requiring vendors to produce redacted timelines when summary numbers appear inconsistent, and asking the state's administrative services organization for complaint counts tied to the Husky (Connecticut Medicaid) program.

Advocates said lack of consumer awareness of the law and of how to file complaints with the Office of Health Advocate (OHA) has suppressed formal complaint counts, and that low complaint numbers do not prove compliance. Industry representatives said they already collect internal complaint logs and can share redacted, de-identified case counts and explanations if asked earlier in the reporting cycle.

The chair and staff agreed to publish the draft recommendations on a Google form and to ask vendors and agencies to provide clarifying data before the next meeting. Committee members requested the reporting and any supporting, redacted evidence be included in the annual report so legislators and agency staff can review claims of compliance in advance of a December deadline.

"When you see those reports when they don't line up, like you're doing right now, say, I would get it when you guys get it ahead of time instead of waiting for the meeting date," one provider representative told the group, arguing that advance queries would speed verification while protecting HIPAA requirements.

Ending: The council directed staff to collect and post revised recommendation language and to set a deadline for members and vendors to submit supporting data; advocates said they will seek redacted timeline evidence when summary reports appear inconsistent.