What if the Fiscal Intermediary ends up with Level I errors for ECR File?
Approved systems are programmed to pass all Level I edits contained in the electronic reporting specifications (ERS) before an electronic cost report file can be created. (See PRM-II, 3895, 2195, 2995, 1895, and 995.) The approval process conducted by CMS does not insure that the vendor programs are error free. Although CMS does extensive testing of the vendor systems prior to approval, there may be some cases of undetected programming errors which may not be discovered until live operation of the software. (See PRM-II, 130.2.) If the error condition identified in the ECR file is present in the hard copy (PI or Print Image File)), the fiscal intermediary must determine if the error is the result of the FI Vendor System, and if so, the report is not be be rejected.