Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

Published on Thu Sep 06, 2012 PDF

Plus: Physician faces jail time for exaggerating complexity of two surgeries.

If you sell your medical practice, you may want to check in from time to time to ensure your NPI isn't left behind after you depart.

That's allegedly what happened to a radiologist in Flushing, N.Y. who sold his radiology practice to Warren Tai. Tai is accused of submitting more than $30 million in false Medicare and Medicaid billings using the identity of the former owner, without that physician's knowledge or consent. Property that Tai allegedly purchased with the "ill-gotten gains, including a Lamborghini automobile," was seized, the Department of Justice noted in an Aug. 30 news release.

The lesson: When you sell your practice, be sure that all of your confidential billing information leaves with you. Even if you're certain that you've left nothing behind, check in on your billings from time to time to ensure that claims for services you didn't perform aren't being submitted in your name.

To read the complete news release, visit www.justice.gov/usao/nye/pr/2012/2012aug30.html.