Strictly speaking, there is no legal requirement that you have a CMS audit lawyer present during an audit. However, given the high stakes involved as well as the complexity of the process, the assistance of an attorney will make the process much less burdensome. Additionally, a healthcare fraud defense lawyer can speed up the audit process by ensuring compliance with all audit procedures and timelines. While sponsors may feel as though they lack the ability to safely restrict an auditor's access, because doing so can jeopardize their contract with CMS, an attorney can provide factual and legal reasons why the request exceeds the auditors' authority. This can limit the scope of an audit without unnecessarily putting a sponsor's compliance with CMS rules at risk. To learn more about how the CMS audit lawyers at Oberheiden, P.C. can help you navigate the audit process, reach out to us to schedule a free consultation.