The OIG Audits Sleep Studies and Finds Non-compliance

The OIG recently performed three major audits of sleep studies services at The University of Michigan, Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Maryland, and North Mississippi Medical Center. The OIG uncovered noncompliance, and the details of these audits might just help you protect your organization.

The OIG found overpayments linked to all kinds of things like improper billing due to improper coding (missing –52 modifier) or because the service was never performed, but the record wasn’t correctly updated.

It’s clear from these audits that the OIG wants polysomnography studies (sleep studies) to be billed in a compliant manner. So if your organization performs these services, it’s crucial to proactively audit these types of claims and watch out for the non-compliant types of bills identified by the OIG in these three audits.

Find out more about sleep studies and non-compliance by reading my most recent eBrief, “The OIG is Wide Awake and Keeping an Eye on Sleep Studies,” so you can be on the lookout for:

• Inappropriate Coding (–52 is where it’s at!)
• Lack of Medical Evidence That Supports the Need for Tests
• Incomplete Documentation
• And So Much More!