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). During a December 21, 2011 provider call on the demonstration, CMS announced that the following MS-DRGs are scheduled to be included in the project:  MS-DRG 312 (Syncope & Collapse); MS-DRG 069 (Transient Ischemia); MS-DRGs 377-379 (GI Hemorrhage); and MS-DRGs 637-639 (Diabetes).  It is unclear whether CMS will make any changes to the DRGs or other aspects of the program when it gets underway. CMS is holding a Special Open Door Forum on the demonstration on August 9.