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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG) released a podcast interview with an auditor regarding an anesthesia whistleblower case at the University of California Irvine Medical Center. The interview centered on how the auditors determined whether a medically directing anesthesiologist was "immediately available," on instances where cases were reported as personally performed instead of medically directed or medically supervised and findings of insufficient documentation of post-operative care.
This case is the precursor to an item in the OIG’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 Work Plan to sample other hospitals, specifically reviewing services which may have been billed incorrectly as personally performed. The Irvine case resulted in a settlement of $1.2 million between the hospital and the government.
The ASA House of Delegates approved a Definition of "Immediately Available" When Medically Directing in October 2012.
Listen to the podcast.
Read the transcript of the podcast.
Review the relevant section of the FY 2013 HHS-OIG Work Plan.
Review the ASA HOD approved Definition of "Immediately Available” When Medically Directing.
