Plus: Contractors are also auditing place of service, bilateral services, and consolidated billing. Your practice may have grown accustomed to the presence of recovery audit contractors (RACs) in the Medicare world, but it can still be hard to follow the issues that the RACs are investigating. Check out the following five recently-posted RAC focus areas so you know what they're seeking, and find out how you can stay out of the auditors' crosshairs. Consolidated Billing Region D RAC, Health Data Insights, announced on Jan. 28 that it will be reviewing claims for SNF consolidated billing for therapies provided during a patient's Part B skilled nursing facility (SNF) stay. Background: Tip: Modifier 25 With Dialysis On Feb. 10, Health Data Insights was approved to begin auditing claims when an E/M services is billed without modifier 25 ( Medicare will reimburse the E/M charge (with modifier 25 appended) if the documentation shows that the E/M services "are significant and separately identifiable and meet any medical necessity requirements," according to a policy by Trailblazer Health, a Part B payer in four states. Remember that modifier 25 should always be appended to the E/M code, never the dialysis code. Inpatient vs. Outpatient Region B RAC, CGI Federal, announced in November that it intends to evaluate overpayments issued to physicians who report the incorrect place of service code when services are rendered in a facility. Physicians collect higher payments for services rendered in the physician's office, a patient's home, an ASC, a nursing facility, or another non-hospital facility versus those services performed in a hospital. Therefore, entering the correct place of service on a claim is essential to appropriate reimbursement. For a complete list of CMS's place of service codes, visit www.cms.gov/PhysicianFeeSched/Downloads/Website_POS_database.pdf. Pain Management Injections Region C RAC Connolly announced on Jan. 27 that it will be reviewing claims for "transformational epidural injections." This appears to be a spelling error, with the RAC referencing articles about transforaminal epidural injections (rather than "transformational"). The RAC notes that "claims have been identified where the first-listed and/or other diagnosis codes do not match to the covered diagnosis codes in the LCD policies." Keep in mind: Bilateral Billing For the past year, DCS Healthcare, the region A RAC, has been reviewing "overpayments associated with providers incorrectly billing services with bilateral indicator 3 (100 percent payable for each side) on multiple lines; once with modifier 50 (resulting in 200 percent payment) and once without modifier 50 (resulting in 100 percent payment), resulting in a 300 percent total payment." Keep in mind: