Having helped several clients with the reporting of PRF payments that were received in the first round (April 10 – June 30, 2020), we now have a better understanding of the online reporting process. If you received a PRF payment between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020, the reporting for use of these funds will not start until January 1, 2022. In the meantime, you can begin putting together the information that will be needed when the portal opens.
Prior to reporting on the use of PRF money received, we strongly recommend filling out the “PRF Reporting Portal Data Entry Workbook,” which can be found at www.hrsa.gov/provider-relief/reporting-auditing (see Step 3: Reporting Resources – Reporting Worksheets). This Excel template follows the same format as the online reporting form, and the online reporting process only takes about 30 minutes if you have this filled out ahead of time. Please see below for additional details about the workbook.
- It is specific to the reporting period. The current workbook on the HRSA website is related to the first round of PRF payments that were received between April 10, 2020 and June 30, 2020. We expect the next workbook to be available closer to the start of the next reporting time period, which is January 1, 2022. However, all payments received have a period of availability that is retroactive to Quarter 1 2020, so you could still use the current workbook to get started.
- The “Other Assistance Received” tab is for reporting PPP/EIDL funds and other grant monies received, but this is informational only and is not used in the lost revenue calculation.
- On the “Other PRF Payments” tab, you must report the use of these payments by indicating the expenses reimbursed with these payments by quarter. Provider Relief Fund payments must be used for expenses not reimbursed by other sources. Eligible expenses are reported first, followed by lost revenue. Since the period of availability for use of Phase 1 – Phase 4 funds overlaps, we highly encourage clients to take the time to report eligible COVID expenses, and not just lost revenues, especially if multiple payments were received.
- If the eligible COVID expenses that you incurred are greater than total PRF payments received, then the additional expenses are reported on the “Unreimbursed Expenses” tab. In this situation, there is no need to report lost revenue. You will only be asked to report annual actual patient care revenue for both 2020 and 2019.
- If you have additional PRF money that was not used to reimburse eligible COVID expenses, then you will be required to report lost revenue by quarter. Each quarter is a standalone calculation, and there is no penalty for quarters in which you did not experience a loss. There are several options for reporting lost revenues, but the majority of our clients will use the actual revenue method (Option 1). The workbook follows the online form and will ask for this information to be further broken down by Payer Type (e.g. Medicare A & B, Medicare C, commercial insurance, etc.), which will require you to run AR reports that show this information.
- The final tab in the workbook is to report staff and patient metrics. This is informational only and will require the use of payroll records and AR reports to fill out the various tables.
- No backup documentation is required unless you use an alternative calculation for lost revenues, but you do need to keep documentation internally for three years from the date of submission in case the report is audited.
The “Reporting Resources” section of the HRSA website mentioned above also includes several videos that offer technical assistance for online reporting. We encourage you to take the time to watch them, as they walk you through the process step-by-step.
A final note about expenses: Beyond the obvious eligible COVID expenses (PPE), there are some others that you might not have considered. Disaster relief payments to staff (not payroll) and accounting fees incurred to help with PPP loans and Employee Retention Credit calculations are eligible expenses as well. If you are not sure about whether or not an expense would qualify, please reach out to us!