Like many labs, you may outsource your billing and coding to an outside medical billing company. While this might be cost-effective, be aware that it can put your lab at risk for liability under … [Read more...]
OPERATIONS
Lab Management: Billing Company Contract Liability Risks & How to Avoid Them
September 3, 2019
OIG OPINION
Is Your Billing Company Putting You At Compliance Risk?
August 5, 2019
By Sean McSweeney bio Does your orthopedic billing company charge a percentage of collections for their coding and billing? They might break out separate charges for statements or other … [Read more...]
CODING
Tennessee Pain Doctor Faces Jail for Opioid Abuses, Medicare Fraud
May 15, 2019
Case: The doctor is facing 45 charges, including 22 counts of illegal distribution of a controlled substance for routinely prescribing oxycodone and other Schedule II drugs without examining and … [Read more...]
COMPLIANCE PLANS
OIG Monthly Work Plan Review: April 2019
May 6, 2019
Among the 10 new Work Plan items this month, three may have potential ramifications for at least some labs. Medicaid Managed Care Organization Denials Issue: The State Medicaid agency and the … [Read more...]
ENFORCEMENT
Case of the Month: Another MD-Owned Lab Gets Busted for Urine Drug Test Abuses
April 29, 2019
Fraudulent utilization and billing of urine drug screening first became a priority for federal enforcers since the $256 million Millennium settlement of 2016. But the opioid crackdown has heightened … [Read more...]
ENFORCEMENT
Mass. Pain Management MDs Jailed for Elaborate Drug Testing Conspiracy
April 26, 2019
Case: After pleading guilty to running "one of the most dangerous pain management practices in Massachusetts," a medical resident was sentenced to 75 months in jail, three years of supervised release … [Read more...]
REIMBURSEMENT
Kentucky Pain Clinic Pays $127K to Settle Specimen Validity Test Billing Claims
April 12, 2019
Case: The Northern Kentucky Center for Pain Relief agreed to pay the OIG $126,799.90 to settle claims of billing Medicare for specimen validity testing (SVT). Explanation: Under Medicare rules, urine … [Read more...]
WORKING WITH PAYERS
Billing & Coding: Pathology Group Asks CMS to Raise Medicare Prices for BRCA1/2 Sequencing Tests
January 23, 2019
The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) thinks the final 2019 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule payment amounts shortchanges labs that provide BRCA genetic testing and is calling on CMS to … [Read more...]
COMPLIANCE PLANS
OIG Monthly Work Plan Review: January 2019
January 23, 2019
This month, there were six new Work Plan items. The two pertaining to labs are detailed below. The first one has widespread implications for labs; the second may have implications for some labs 1. … [Read more...]
BILLING AND COLLECTIONS
Texas Lab and Owner Get 15-Year Exclusion for Medicare Mileage Swindle
January 11, 2019
Case: What would you do if your bill for a $43 blood test included a $1,500 travel fee? The patient who actually received such a bill from Texas lab BestCare complained to the government. The … [Read more...]
