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Coding Compliance: OIG Targets Transforaminal Epidural Injections

Verify that you’re counting injections and levels correctly to keep claims clean.
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) Work Plan for 2010 includes a closer look at Medicare payments for transforaminal epidural injections. The Work Plan specifically states, “We will review Medicare claims to determine the appropriateness of Medicare Part B payments for transforaminal epidural injections.”
Stay […]

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Nonphysician Providers and Incident-To: Your Coding Questions Answered

Here’s why you should keep your physicians’ work schedules on file.
Correctly billing your nonphysician practitioners (NPPs) incident-to services means the difference between 85 and 100 percent reimbursement. But if you bill incident-to haphazardly, you’re just waving a red flag at auditors.
And those auditors are jonesin’ to find incident to billing problems. Just check out this […]

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Double Ultrasound Codes Spell Double Trouble With Auditors

Authorities scrutinize medical necessity for 76830 & 76856.
The OIG is watching your ultrasound orders and code combinations — and it doesn’t like what it sees. Take note of these problem spots to keep your claims in the clear.
An OIG audit of ultrasound services billed in 2007 found that nearly one in five ultrasound claims “had characteristics that raise […]

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  3. OIG Auditors to Cardiologist: You’re Billing Medicare ProperlyReport reveals what he and his billing staff did right….
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OIG Auditors to Cardiologist: You’re Billing Medicare Properly

Report reveals what he and his billing staff did right. Does your practice have the right stuff?
Turns out the old saying is true: If you haven’t done anything wrong, an OIG audit is nothing to worry about.
A New York cardiologist who collected over $1.3 million over a three-year period for 5,061 claims caught the OIG’s […]

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  1. Double Ultrasound Codes Spell Double Trouble With AuditorsAuthorities scrutinize medical necessity for 76830 & 76856. The OIG…
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  3. HHS Plans to Crack Down on Fraud, Improper BillingMedicare loses $60 billion a year in improper payments. A…
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Service Doesn’t Meet Incident-To Rules? Report Under NPP’s NPI

Heads up: These vaccine admin codes are excluded from incident-to requirements.
Incident-to rules don’t always apply to diagnostic services, but many medical practices aren’t aware of that.
And based on a new wave of scrutiny directed toward incident-to claims, you should know physician supervision rules inside and out.
A recent audit from the HHS Office of the Inspector […]

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  3. 5 Rules Pinpoint Date of Service for Laboratory ClaimsTip 3: Here’s DOS advice for archived samples. You can’t…
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The Truth About Self-Audits

And one crucial step you should never miss.
How many ticking time bombs are waiting in your medical records?
If you don’t audit your charts regularly, you’ll never know. But even the most thorough set of audits could come to nothing if your staffers believe they’ll lose their jobs if you uncover a problem in an audit.
Reality: “Internal audits (or those conducted by the […]

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