In 2011, it was reported that approximately $28.8B in improper payments were issued across all Medicare Fee-For-Service programs (including Part A, Part B and DME). This is an error rate of 8.6 percent. In 2012, Medicare intends to bring this error rate down to 5.4 percent. Additionally, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has identified a nearly 400 percent rise in payment for sleep services over the past 10 years, leading the OIG to state in its 2012 work plan that they will continue monitoring sleep services to determine if they are “reasonable and necessary.”
It is imperative that all sleep centers implement accurate billing procedures to meet current requirements and reduce errors. To help educate members and sleep center staff on this important issue, the AASM is devoting a full day of its April 21–22 Intermediate Sleep Center Management Series to coding and billing topics including documentation, appeals, developing a compliance plan and more. All sleep centers are encouraged to send their coding and administrative staff to this course which will be held at the AASM National Office in Darien, Ill. (a suburb of Chicago).
The second day of the Series will also focus on important issues for today’s sleep centers including incorporating DME and out of center sleep testing into their businesses, and practice management topics like staffing, marketing and monitoring outcomes. For full course information, to view a course brochure, or to register, visit the Sleep Education Series portion of the AASM website. Questions may be directed to the AASM meeting department by sending an email to education@aasm.org or by calling 630-737-9770.
