OIG testimony addresses Medicare and DME abuses
Device Regulation Alert: Safety, Compliance and Reimbursement News, July 14, 2008
Medicare paid questionable claims for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and related supplies because no edit ferrets out inappropriate unique physician identifier numbers (UPINs), Robert Vito, Regional Inspector General for Evaluation and Inspections, Office of Inspector General, said in testimony before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
The OIG has found inactive or invalid UPINs, UPINs of dead physicians, and surrogate UPINs have been improperly listed when indicating the physician ordering the DME item. Despite the use of the national provider identifier beginning this year, the OIG fears the same problems may continue without appropriate edits in place to detect the misuse of physician identifiers.
The testimony also addressed other Medicare problems relating to DME including pricing and coverage issues, including fraud and abuse with regard to power wheelchairs.
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