Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Identity theft is nearly a $50 billion industry. You've implemented a Red Flags program at your practice -- but do you know what to do if you identify an issue? Your practice should not only determine how you'll identify red flags, but also create steps to deal with them. For instance: If you decide to copy patients' ID cards at their visits, you'll need to do more than just make copies or scan the cards. Your employees should be on the lookout for discrepancies. "We've identified the following as a red flag regarding patient IDs," says Cyndee Weston, executive director of the American Medical Billing Association: "A photograph or physical description contained on the identification presented is not consistent with the appearance of the person presenting the ID or there are obvious differences between the age, gender, or ethnicity." If there is a breach, offices should be asking these questions, Weston [...]