OIG Posts FY 2010 Work Plan

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has posted its work plan for FY 2010.

Of particular interest to anesthesiologists and pain physicians, the work plan includes the following areas of focus:

1. The OIG will “review Medicare claims to determine the appropriateness of Medicare Part B payments for transforaminal epidural injections” (page 19).
2. The OIG also review the extent to which physicians reassign their Medicare benefits to other entities, as well as provider compliance with Medicare assignment rules (pages 17-18).
3. The OIG will review industry practices related to E&M billing during the global surgery period to see if industry practices have changed since the global surgery fee concept was developed in 1992 (page 15).  The results of this review will be of interest, as anesthesiologists sometimes bill for E&M services pertaining to post-op pain services during the global surgery period.
4. The OIG will review physician claims for proper place-of-service coding (page 15).