With many ASCs making headlines for coding and billing fraud, Fort Myers, Fla.-based Serbin Medical Billing released a set of billing guidelines.
The key billing areas to watch:
1. Billing Medicare for canceled procedures is a practice to avoid; Medicare can only be billed when the patient is at the ASC prior to receiving treatment. If the case is canceled when the patient is in the pre-operative area, Medicare still can't be billed.
2. An ASC's coding department shouldn't knowingly bill Medicare for procedures more complex than the ones performed. A routine audit can root out any issues with upcoding.
3. Medicare shouldn't be billed for services that aren't completed, and records shouldn't be made to show services were delivered if they weren't.