The head physician in our office is very emphatic about charging a service that I -as a Certified coder- know is not a billable charge. I have been told by my office manager that I have nothing to worry about, I cannot be held responsible for billing a charge the physician insists I bill. This goes against other things that I have read about my responsiblity by being certified. If we were to be audited, and we are penalized for billing this service, would I be held responsible as a certified coder and possibly penalized as well?
After reading the other posts I went on a search and found the article in the August 2011 Coding Edge written by David Vaugh and attorney who is also CPC certified, he does clearly state that a coder can be held criminally liable for defrauding the government and you don't have to even be the one who put the code in the system. Very interesting article that is quite eye-opening.
Do not under any circumstances mis-code a claim even at the direction of a physician, you could end up in jail for a very long time.
"The “take home message” is that if you participate in, agree to, or
hide improper coding, knowing that it is improper coding, you have
potential criminal exposure, even if you received no compensation,
did not actually perform the improper coding, and feared for the loss
of employment." David Vaughn, JD, CPC, Coding Edge August 2011