Questions and Answers
What does the Privacy Act of 1974 forbid the Medicare regional payer from disclosing?
What does HIPAA's privacy rule create?
National standards to protect individuals' medical records and personal health information.
What does privileged communication entail?
Private information shared between a patient and health care provider.
What does the Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER) contain?
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What is protected health information (PHI)?
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What does 'qui tam' refer to?
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What is the purpose of record retention?
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What is the Recovery Audit Contractor program (RAC)?
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What are regulations?
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What is required for a Release of Information (ROI)?
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What is the purpose of a release of information log?
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What does a risk adjustment model do?
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What does the risk transfer formula achieve?
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What is meant by security in the context of patient information?
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What do HIPAA standards and safeguards protect?
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What does Stark I address?
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What are statutes?
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What is a subpoena?
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What does a subpoena duces tecum require?
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What did the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 create?
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What is the UB-04 flat file used for?
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What is a unique bit string?
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What is upcoding?
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What is a whistleblower?
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What is the Zone Program Integrity Contractor (ZPIC)?
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What does 'abuse' refer to in medical billing?
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What is ANSI ASC X12N 837?
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What is the purpose of an 'audit'?
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What is an 'authorization'?
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What is a 'black box edit'?
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Define 'breach of confidentiality'.
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What does 'case law' refer to?
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What is a 'check digit'?
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Define 'civil law'.
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What does the Clinical Data Abstracting Center (CDAC) do?
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What is the CMS Internet-only manual?
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What is the purpose of the CMS quarterly provider update?
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Define 'common law'.
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What is a 'compliance program'?
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What is the Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) program?
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What are Conditions for Coverage (CfC)?
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What are Conditions of Participation (CoP)?
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Define 'confidentiality' in healthcare.
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What is criminal law?
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What is Current Dental Terminology (CDT)?
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What is meant by decrypt?
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What is deeming in CMS context?
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What did the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 create?
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What is a deposition?
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What does 'digital' mean in this context?
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What is an Electronic Clinical Quality Measure (eCQM)?
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What is an electronic transaction standard?
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What does encrypt mean?
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What is the False Claims Act (FCA)?
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What does the Federal Claims Collection Act (FCCA) require?
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What is the Federal Register?
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What does First-look Analysis for Hospital Outlier Monitoring (FATHOM) provide?
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Define 'fraud' in a healthcare context.
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What is the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team?
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What is the purpose of the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP)?
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What is the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting program?
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What does the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting Program (OQR) focus on?
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What does the Hospital Payment Monitoring Program (HPMP) do?
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What is the hospital value-based purchasing (VBP) program?
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What was established by the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA)?
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What is an interrogatory?
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What is a listserv?
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What is a Medicaid integrity contractor (MIC)?
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What is the purpose of the Medicaid Integrity Program (MIP)?
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What is medical identity theft?
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What does medical review (MR) mean?
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What is a Medicare administrative contractor (MAC)?
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What is the Medicare Drug Integrity Contractors Program?
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What is the Medicare Integrity Program (MIP)?
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What is the Medicare Shared Savings Program?
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What does the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) do?
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What is a message digest?
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What is the National Drug Code (NDC)?
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What does the National Individual Identifier entail?
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What is the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES)?
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What does the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) do?
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What is the National Provider Identifier (NPI)?
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What is the National Standard Employer Identification Number (EIN)?
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What is the National Standard Format (NSF)?
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What is an overpayment?
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What does Part A/B Medicare administrative contractor refer to?
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What is the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act?
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What does the Payment Error Prevention Program (PEPP) do?
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What is the payment error rate?
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What does the Payment Error Rate Measurement (PERM) program measure?
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What does the physician self-referral law pertain to?
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What is the Physicians at Teaching Hospitals (PATH) initiative?
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What does 'precedent' mean in a legal context?
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Define 'privacy' in the context of healthcare.
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Study Notes
Medical Billing Key Terms
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Abuse: Involves actions that contradict accepted medical, business, or fiscal practices, which may lead to unnecessary costs.
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ANSI ASC X12N 837: A standardized electronic format used for transmitting healthcare claims.
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Audit: A systematic assessment to validate the accuracy of financial statements submitted for claims.
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Authorization: A document granting permission for specific uses or disclosures of protected health information (PHI).
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Black Box Edit: A type of coding edit that was nonpublished and discontinued as of 2000.
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Breach of Confidentiality: Involves unauthorized access or sharing of patient information with third parties.
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Case Law: Also known as common law; it is derived from judicial decisions that create legal precedents.
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Check Digit: An alphanumeric character used to verify the correctness of a unique identifier.
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Civil Law: A branch of law concerning non-criminal disputes between individuals or organizations.
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Clinical Data Abstracting Center (CDAC): Responsible for assessing medical records for error prevention and medical necessity reviews.
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CMS Internet-only Manual (IOM): Contains operational guidelines and policies for CMS programs; also referred to as CMS Online Manual System.
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CMS Quarterly Provider Update (QPU): Online resource detailing updates on regulations and policies affecting providers.
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Compliance Program: Organizational policies designed to adhere to legal and regulatory requirements.
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Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT): Program measuring improper payments in Medicare through claim reviews.
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Conditions for Coverage (CfC): Regulations that healthcare facilities must comply with to participate in Medicare/Medicaid.
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Conditions of Participation (CoP): Requirements that hospitals must meet to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid programs.
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Confidentiality: Ensuring patient information is only accessible to authorized individuals.
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Criminal Law: Laws dealing with offenses against the state or public and their judicial processes.
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Current Dental Terminology (CDT): Medical coding system created by the American Dental Association for dental procedures.
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Decrypt: The process of converting encrypted data back into a readable format.
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Deeming: Recognition by CMS that certain accreditation standards satisfy CoP and CfC.
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Deficit Reduction Act of 2005: Established the Medicaid Integrity Program to enhance resources combating fraud in Medicaid.
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Deposition: A legal procedure where individuals answer questions under oath outside a courtroom.
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Digital: Refers to encoding electronic documents into a secure format.
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Electronic Clinical Quality Measure (eCQM): Tools for measuring healthcare service quality based on electronic health records.
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Electronic Transaction Standard: A uniform standard governing electronic data exchanges in healthcare.
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Encrypt: The act of converting data into a secure format for safe transmission.
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False Claims Act (FCA): A law that regulates fraud by allowing private individuals to sue on behalf of the government.
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Federal Claims Collection Act (FCCA): Requires collection attempts for overpayments by Medicare contractors.
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Federal Register: Official daily publication that contains government agency rules and proposed changes.
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First-look Analysis for Hospital Outlier Monitoring (FATHOM): Tool providing data for CMS target area analysis.
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Fraud: Deliberate misrepresentation leading to unauthorized payment or benefit.
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Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team: A collaborative initiative strengthening fraud prevention in healthcare.
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Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP): CMS initiative designed to reduce payments to hospitals with excessive readmissions.
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Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program (IQR): Mandates hospitals report quality measures to enhance care quality for Medicare beneficiaries.
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Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting Program (OQR): Pay-for-quality program focused on outpatient hospital services initiated by CMS.
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Hospital Payment Monitoring Program (HPMP): Monitors and aims to reduce Medicare billing errors among inpatient hospitals.
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Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program: Offers reimbursement based on the quality of care delivered rather than service amount.
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Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA): Initiated programs to measure and monitor improper payments across Medicaid and Medicare.
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Interrogatory: A legal document requesting written responses to specific questions.
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Listserv: An email forum for subscribers to engage in question-and-answer exchanges.
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Medicaid Integrity Contractor (MIC): Entities contracted by CMS to review claims and educate providers on payment integrity.
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Medicaid Integrity Program (MIP): Resource enhancement initiative focused on addressing fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicaid.
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Medical Identity Theft: Fraudulent use of someone else's medical information to bill insurance providers.
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Medical Review (MR): Assessment of claims to ensure medical services are necessary and reasonable.
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Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC): Organizations that process Medicare claims and ensure program integrity.
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Medicare Drug Integrity Contractors Program (MEDIC): Aiding CMS's anti-fraud efforts in Medicare Part D since 2011.
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Medicare Integrity Program (MIP): Authorizes CMS to contract entities for auditing and anti-fraud functions.
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Medicare Shared Savings Program: Promotes care coordination to enhance quality and reduce costs for Medicare beneficiaries through ACOs.
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Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS): Adjusts Medicare payments based on a clinician's performance rating.
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Message Digest: A cryptographic representation of data used in electronic signatures.
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National Drug Code (NDC): Identifying code for prescription and non-prescription drugs monitored by the FDA.
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National Individual Identifier: A proposed unique identifier for patients, currently on hold.
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National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES): Assigns unique identifiers to healthcare providers (NPI).
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National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB): Database established to monitor and report on healthcare practitioners' professional conduct.
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National Provider Identifier (NPI): Unique ten-digit identifier assigned to healthcare providers.
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National Standard Employer Identification Number (EIN): Unique identifier for employers sponsoring health insurance, assigned by the IRS.
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National Standard Format (NSF): Flat-file format used for billing noninstitutional services.
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Overpayment: Funds received beyond what is due under Medicaid or Medicare regulations.
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Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act: Enhances patient safety through voluntary reporting of adverse events and creation of patient safety organizations.
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Payment Error Prevention Program (PEPP): Initiative aimed at minimizing improper Medicare payments, succeeded by HPMP.
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Payment Error Rate: Calculation of the monetary errors within total payments for specific Medicare services.
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Payment Error Rate Measurement Program (PERM): Assesses improper payments in Medicaid and CHIP.
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Physician Self-Referral Law (Stark I): Regulations prohibiting physicians from referring patients for services they have financial interests in.
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Physicians at Teaching Hospitals (PATH): Focus on compliance audits regarding billing practices of teaching hospitals.
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Precedent: Legal standard established through court decisions.
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Privacy: The individual's right to control access to their personal information.
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Privacy Act of 1974: Protects patient information from being disclosed without certain limitations.
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Privacy Rule: HIPAA standard for protecting individuals' medical records and health information.
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Privileged Communication: Confidential exchanges between patient and healthcare provider subject to HIPAA regulations.
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Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER): Tool that provides insight into hospital-specific claims data for identifying issues.
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Protected Health Information (PHI): Any identifiable information regarding a patient, which is safeguarded under HIPAA.
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Qui Tam: Legal provision allowing individuals to sue on behalf of the government for fraud against government contracts.
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Record Retention: The mandated storage duration for documentation to ensure accessibility for audits and verifications.### Recovery Audit Contractor Program
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Established by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA).
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Aims to identify and rectify improper Medicare payments to healthcare providers under fee-for-service Medicare.
Regulations
- Guidelines formulated by administrative bodies, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Release of Information (ROI)
- To release Protected Health Information (PHI), a patient or representative must sign an authorization that is verified for authenticity.
- The process must be completed within a 60-day timeframe as mandated by HIPAA.
- Requests can come from various sources, including patients, healthcare providers, and third parties like Social Security Disability attorneys.
Release of Information Log
- Document used for tracking patient information released to authorized requesters.
- Can be maintained manually (e.g., in a binder) or through ROI tracking software.
Risk Adjustment Model
- Provides financial support to health plans attracting higher-risk patients.
- Utilizes actuarial tools to estimate healthcare costs based on enrollees' relative risk.
Risk Adjustment Program
- Aims to mitigate risk selection's effect on health plan premiums.
- Incorporates the risk adjustment model and related risk transfer formula.
Risk Transfer Formula
- Mechanism to redistribute funds from health plans with lower-risk enrollees to those with higher-risk patients.
- Helps safeguard health plans against adverse selection.
Security
- Involves safeguarding patient data by restricting access to both physical and electronic records.
- Protects patient information from alteration or loss and involves employee training on confidentiality.
- Employees must sign statements outlining confidentiality obligations and consequences for breaches.
Security Rule
- Part of HIPAA, it sets standards for safeguarding electronically stored health information.
- Affects health plans, clearinghouses, and specific healthcare providers.
Stark I
- Addresses conflicts of interest in physician referrals for Medicare services.
- Prohibits self-referrals to clinical lab services where the physician or their family has a financial interest.
Statutes
- Also known as statutory law, these are laws enacted by legislative bodies like Congress or state legislatures.
Subpoena
- A court-issued order compelling a witness to appear in court to testify.
Subpoena Duces Tecum
- A specific type of subpoena requiring the production of documents, such as patient records.
Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (TRHCA)
- Established the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting Program (Hospital OQR), a quality data reporting initiative by CMS for outpatient services.
UB-04 Flat File
- A collection of fixed-length records used for billing institutional services rendered in hospitals.
Unique Bit String
- A computer-generated code that creates an electronic signature's message digest.
- It is encrypted and attached to electronic documents like the CMS-1500 claim.
Upcoding
- The practice of assigning an inaccurate ICD-10-CM diagnosis code to inflate reimbursement illegally.
- Example: coding a heart attack when the actual documented condition was angina.
Whistleblower
- Refers to individuals reporting misuse of public funds, including Medicare payments.
- Protections are in place under ARRA legislation against retaliation for whistleblowers reporting gross mismanagement.
Zone Program Integrity Contractor (ZPIC)
- Program initiated in 2009 by CMS to examine billing patterns and trends.
- Focuses on providers with Medicare billings exceeding the community average, replacing the previous Program Safeguard Contracts (PSCs).
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