The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has posted its work plan for FY 2010; What does it mean for Anesthesia Practices
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has posted its work plan for FY 2010. Of particular interest to anesthesiologists and pain physicians, the work plan includes the following areas of focus:
1. The OIG will “review Medicare claims to determine the appropriateness of Medicare Part B payments for transforaminal epidural injections” (page 19).
2. The OIG also review the extent to which physicians reassign their Medicare benefits to other entities, as well as provider compliance with Medicare assignment rules (pages 17-18).
3. The OIG will review industry practices related to E&M billing during the global surgery period to see if industry practices have changed since the global surgery fee concept was developed in 1992 (page 15). The results of this review will be of interest, as anesthesiologists sometimes bill for E&M services pertaining to post-op pain services during the global surgery period.
4. The OIG will review physician claims for proper place-of-service coding (page 15).
FTC Extends Enforcement Deadline for Identity Theft Red Flags Rule
At the request of Members of Congress, the Federal Trade Commission is delaying enforcement of the “Red Flags” Rule until June 1, 2010, for financial institutions and creditors subject to enforcement by the FTC.
The Rule was promulgated under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, in which Congress directed the Commission and other agencies to develop regulations requiring “creditors” and “financial institutions” to address the risk of identity theft. The resulting Red Flags Rule requires all such entities that have “covered accounts” to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs to help identify, detect, and respond to patterns, practices, or specific activities – known as “red flags” – that could indicate identity theft.
Read the complete article on the deadline extension for Identity Theft Red Flag Rules
