New Wave of OIG Hospital Audits Targets Perceived Error-Prone Billing Issues

We understand that the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) Office of Audit Services currently is in the process of sending numerous Contact Letters to hospitals across the country in an effort to determine hospital levels of compliance with Medicare billing requirements.  As part of this audit, the OIG plans to review “known areas of compliance” related to hospital inpatient and outpatient claims with dates of service in calendar years 2009 and 2010.  The OIG Contact Letters suggest that this audit is rather open-ended and focuses on a large number of past hospital billing compliance matters previously identified through OIG Work Plans and audits.