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Understanding Medical Billing Invoice Variations

Staff Reporters

Deviations in medical billing may often be detected through utilization data that the government or private insurance companies produce on all providers that submit a claim for payment of services. Uncle Sam and insurance companies track utilization through a variety of parameters, including CPT codes, ICD-9-CM, or number of referrals; etc.

Benchmark Differences

However, different programs utilize varying benchmarks to trigger a review. For example, a physician who sees patients in the office from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m., seven days a week and has the highest billing amounts in the region can be subjected to a review. This doctor’s activities would be scrutinized. The utilization review department would probably flag this doctor’s provider number and request more information on a sampling of his or her claims, based almost solely on the volume.

Example:

Some other utilization review activities may occur due to the type of services that a doctor may offer. For example, if a cardiologist should suddenly start billing for a large number of incisions and drainage of foot abscesses, this might trigger a review, since that might not be a typical scope of service for this doctor in this locality. The same could be said for a pathologist, triggering a review due to the high volume of wound care or ulcer debridement.

Geographic Variations

Thresholds also vary from locale to locale regarding what triggers an audit. There are consultants who have suggested querying local carriers for medical provider specific information regarding utilization activity to compare against community performance. On the other hand, some Carrier Advisory Committee [CAC] representatives have indicated that this may bring undesirable attention from the Medicare program and trigger an audit.

Assessment

Now that the concept of medical billing normalization has been proposed, and we have some definitional clarity regarding potential variations, consulting professionals suggest obtaining current information with caution.

Conclusion

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Related Information Sources:

Practice Management: http://www.springerpub.com/prod.aspx?prod_id=23759

Physician Financial Planning: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/0763745790

Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

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Filed under: Healthcare Finance, Insurance Matters, Managed Care, Practice Management, Risk Management | Tagged: medical billing, medical invoice, superbill | 2 Comments »