Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert
Lesson From Recent $750,000 Case: Repay Overpayments As Soon As Possible
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Plus: Senior Medicare Patrol smaller in numbers, but still producing results.
If your practice accepts the fact that you received an overpayment, you can’t simply nod and agree that it was wrong—you have to send it back. That’s the lesson from a case in Maryland, where a hospital overbilled for cardiac testing and then sat on the cash even after realizing it collected more than it should have.
The hospital agreed to pay $750,000 to settle the case last week, which stemmed from overbilling cardiac perfusion studies between 2003 and 2009. The hospital was aware of the issue, but still didn’t pay the government back for the charges until a lawsuit was filed. The case was brought to the attention of the OIG and Department of Justice by a whistleblower, who will receive $119,728 for his part in raising awareness of the hospital’s wrongdoing.
To read the complete report about the case, visit www.justice.gov/usao/md/news/2013/MARYLANDGENERALHOSPITALAGREESTOPAY750000TORESOLVEFALSECLAIMSACTALLEGATIONSINCONNECTION.html.
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