Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

The Senior Medicare Patrol Project is stepping up its activity. In 2011, the 54 Senior Medicare Patrol Projects had 5,671 active volunteers, a 14 percent increase from 2010, the HHS Office of Inspector General says in a new report published on June 21. Volunteers conducted 66,303 one-on-one counseling sessions and 11,109 group education sessions. In 2011, 431,128 beneficiaries attended group education sessions, an increase from 298,097 in 2010.

Medicare funds recovered due to the projects were $19,283 in 2011. But don't let that number fool you, the OIG says. The projects saved another $248,000 in "cost avoidance." And the projects referred some "large-dollar cases," the OIG notes. Medicare is seeking to recover $2.9 million in one of them.

New York and California had the most Senior Medicare Patrol volunteers, while Kansas and Oklahoma had the fewest. The study is online at http://go.usa.gov/vda.