Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provided Comparative Billing Reports (CBRs) nationally to the highest frequency billers of the sleep medicine services to educate providers regarding proper billing practices. Steps to take in response to receiving a Medicare CBR only relate to those sent during May and June 2011 to the highest frequency billers of the following CPT/HCPCS codes: 95805, 95806, 95807, 95808, 95810, 95811, G0398, G0399 and G0400.

Earlier this week the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM) issued a new consensus committee report, “Geographic Adjustment in Medicare Payment: Phase I: Improving Accuracy.” The report, which was sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), examined Medicare’s practice of adjusting fee-for-service payments to hospitals, physicians, and other clinical practitioners according to the geographic locations in which they practice.

On June 1 the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a statement announcing that it expects to recover $3.4 billion from investigations, audits and reviews occurring between October 2010 and March 2011, mainly involving Medicare and Medicaid. Coding Corner articles are archived on the Coding Page of the AASM website for future reference.

In April, Medicare published a proposed rule describing the Shared Savings Program, which is required by the Affordable Care Act to improve outcomes by promoting accountability and quality of care. Providers are encouraged to review the proposed rule and submit comments to Medicare by close of business on June 6, 2011.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a proposed rule for changes to the Medicare Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program.  The proposed rule is on display at the Federal Register, and the deadline for submitting comments is July 25, 2011.

The Office of Inspector General has posted presentation materials on its website from the recent HEAT Provider Compliance Training webcast.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) will offer a FREE, live webcast of its HEAT Provider Compliance Training, which will be held on Wednesday, May 18, 2011. Hear from Inspector General Daniel Levinson and other government experts as they educate local health care providers and compliance officers about the realities of Medicare fraud and the importance of implementing an effective compliance program. 

The Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program gives providers the opportunity to receive significant incentive payments for the demonstration of meaningful use of EHR technology. Read the full article to learn more about this program.

In response to the identification in the Office of Inspector General (OIG) 2010 and 2011 Work Plans of a rapid expansion of sleep study services, a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contractor has performed an analysis of billing practices for nine sleep study services. This analysis will be used to provide individual physicians with a Comparative Billing Report (CBR), which will address the services identified by specific CPT codes.

CMS is holding a conference call for eligible professionals (EPs) who are participating in the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program to provide information on the attestation process. The focus of the call will be to help guide users through the CMS web-based attestation system. Login to learn more details about the scheduled conference call.