CMS has announced that its Recovery Audit Prepayment Review Demonstration, originally scheduled to launch on January 1, 2012, is now scheduled to begin on August 27, 2012. Under this program, CMS plans to expand the use of Medicare Recovery Auditors in the Medicare fee-for-service program to review claims before they are paid. The demonstration will include seven states with what CMS calls “high populations of fraud- and error-prone providers” (FL, CA, MI, TX, NY, LA, IL) and four states with high claims volumes of short inpatient hospital stays (PA, OH, NC, MO). On an August 9, 2012 provider call, CMS announced that one MS-DRG will be reviewed initially: MS-DRG 312 (Syncope & Collapse). The following codes are scheduled to be included at date to be determined: MS-DRG 069 (Transient Ischemia); MS-DRGs 377-379 (GI Hemorrhage); and MS-DRGs 637-639 (Diabetes). CMS also specified that the demonstration will not replace Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) prepayment review, but CMS expects contractors to coordinate review areas to not duplicate efforts.