Introduction
The goal of every individual in the workplace or job is to generate profit in life, even sometimes at the stake of violating ethics. Compliance is how to follow the rules while working in the healthcare industry. The Physicians should have compliance knowledge to ensure the business’s success and ethical business practices. Compliance ensures that all working methods rule CPT, HIPAA, and CMS. Physicians intend to follow these rules in the healthcare industry to benefit businesses and physicians. Under current circumstances, the role of healthcare laws and regulations cannot be denied to avoid the risk of billing and claim denials. Physicians must be aware of the four common compliance mistakes to pursue a successful and smooth healthcare practice in the contemporary and dynamic healthcare system. The article will not only discuss these four common compliance mistakes but also share actions that help to avoid these common compliance mistakes.
Medical billing and coding error
Medical coding and billing errors are the most common that leads to compliance mistake. The medical billing and coding errors included unbundling and up-billing, which could create severe offenses against the medical practitioners. Wrong codes could result in the form of wrong medication; wrong diagnosis requires the widespread implementation of an Electronic Health Record System to avoid documentation mistakes. It helps to prevent coding errors and documentation mistakes and avoid efforts to earn high-profit margins, which is linked with the ethical issues in the business. Furthermore, incorrect coding, up-coding, and unbundling coding techniques to purchase that product are closely interrelated with compliance issues in healthcare operations. It might be due to the business’s focus on capturing value rather than creating value.
How to avoid it?
Prevention of coding and billing errors is possible through human training and regular auditing practices. Upcoding is a high reimbursement cost than the actual services provided to patients. Upcoding is a fraudulent activity that contributes to inflating physician income. Use of the most updated coding manual help to avoid mistake. Medical billers should stay at speed with the current coding rules and regulations. Using recent coding guidelines and refreshing coding methods regularly helps reduce the risk of income loss.
Fraud and abuse issue
When a desire to collect money goes beyond the limit, healthcare organizations and providers ignore the compliance rules and regulations. They start overlooking their surrounding and need more empathy and interest in what laws desire to mend an action. Moreover, such physicians subsequently isolate them from gathering and making changes in medical billing. As a result, money becomes the source of impairing all the pleasure associated with life.
How to avoid it?
A person that has a moral right whenever they do something must do it on some moral grounds and justify that action by making some moral claims. Such as do not cheat in billing and coding, do not follow illegal practices like fraudulent person telling the truth, follow compliance and integrity culture help to reduce the risk of fraud and abuses. .
Anti Kickback Statute and Stark Law
Sometimes getting financial benefits from the patients beyond the provision of government healthcare programs leads to anti-kickback statute and state law. However, regulatory compliance does not necessarily allow any practitioner to involve in coding and billing fraud due to the presence of statutory law. Hitherto, when a person violates moral law by violating the property, enslaving a person, and treating them immorally, they will be addressed the constitutional requirement. In the various states, the constitution offers the law to humans. Whenever things go beyond the control of management, they should arrange counseling classes. That is, along with focusing on the result of a task, tries to create such characters that teach the significance of the task among the employees. When employees get an accessible working environment, impersonal egoism, and see the employer taking care of a human being rights and well-being, they contribute to the increasing overall productivity of the business.
How to avoid it?
The employer should be aware of the surrounding by practicing environmental protection practices. Establish connection or make consultation with the legal experts about the law would help to avoid the issue. Show gratitude for what you have, and sharing a small profit among employees will make them more loyal and productive for the business.
HIPAA Violations
HIPAA in healthcare concerns how patient information protection practices are applied when pursuing medical business practices. It does not mean that all healthcare providers are involved in pursuing unethical leakage of patient information. However, in the presence of significant breaches, consequences can be disastrous and cause to leak the private information of patients. Patient information regarding disease, diagnosis, treatment, and personal data is essential because it gives a perpendicular direction to the insurance companies and healthcare organizations for making a valuable decision. However, if patient information is used illegally, it would prove more than enough to dilute moral values via making changes to secure money and other benefits from beneficiaries.
How to avoid it?
Training and education about HIPAA regulations and guidelines and implementing electronic health records with authorized access to individuals help combat the HIPAA violation. In addition, the patient’s consent should be the utmost priority, even when data is required for research purposes.
Conclusion
To remain compliant in the healthcare system, it should be essential for healthcare practitioners to make legitimate claims that excel in satisfying the needs of the patients and are accurate for insurance companies use. With time, such practices help build not only the trust of patients in the healthcare providers but also make the healthcare professionals integrity in the market and contribute to reducing claim rejection. It also assists in building patient loyalty, greets public relations, reduces the rate of claim rejections, and increases the number of patients through word of mouth for the healthcare business.
FAQs
What is fraud in medical billing and coding, and how to avoid it?
Fraud is an illegal act done intentionally by running or employees to attain an unfair or illicit benefit. It is always pre-planned and one-sided. It may usually refer to as a ‘deprivation by deceit.’ Businesses become prepared in an environment that supports a 0% chance for fraud to occur. There is a need for counselling and understanding employees’ needs as an abatement measure to reduce the fraud rate in the business.
What triggers to make coding errors, and how to avoid these errors?
The desire to make more money and unawareness of the update coding and billing and coding updates leads to coding errors. Remain updated with the medical billing and coding trends, avoid unbundling, remain vigilant about up-coding and under-coding, and file medical claims within the deadline.
How can we increase coding accuracy?
Making consultations with 3rd party for data analysis reports, remote access to data, and reviewing cases accurately help to avoid these errors.
How do practitioners rejuvenate the compliance culture?
Regular training, open communication channels about compliance issues, rewarding the staff for compliance practices, and leading examples of ethical behavior help medical practitioners rejuvenate the compliance culture.
How do physicians make updates on compliance regulations?
Physicians can utilize several resources to make compliance regulations updates. These resources are industry associations, government websites, continuing education programs, and training and education focusing on healthcare compliance.