Gastroenterology Coding Alert

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General has issued fair warning:

Medicare payments for colonoscopies are going under the microscope.

The OIG recently released its work plan for 2009, and examining colonoscopies is on the to-do list. "We will determine whether Medicare payments for colonoscopy services were properly supported, billed, and paid in accordance with Medicare requirements," the plan says. In other words, make sure your i's are dotted and your t's are crossed in your colonoscopy coding and documentation.

Colonoscopy claims are on the radar screen for Medicare's recovery audit contractors, too. A Feb. 28 press release reported that one RAC found three colonoscopies billed for one patient the same day.

Read it: You can check out the whole plan here:

http://www.oig.hhs.gov/publications/docs/workplan/2009/WorkPlanFY2009.pdf.