Why anesthesia groups should start caring about comparative billing reports — 6 key notes

Anesthesia Business Consultants CEO Tony Mira penned a column on the importance of comparative billing reports and why anesthesia groups need to start caring about them.

Here's what you should know:

1. CMS prepares comparative billing reports to show individual practitioners how their billing practices compare to other practitioners on a statewide or national level.

2. The reports can potentially make anesthesia groups targets for CMS audits.

3. Mr. Mira stresses the reports should be treated with the utmost importance.

4. The reports are tailored to address areas prone to improper reporting.

5. Medicare's 2015 Fee-for-Service Improper Payments Report listed anesthesia as one of the top specialties with improper payment rates. CMS issued a comparative billing report in June to 8,000 anesthesia providers, prompted by large variations in Medicare spending on lower endoscopic procedures.

6. Mr. Mira recommends anesthesia groups conduct internal management-led reviews if a provider receives a comparative billing report.

He wrote, "CBRs should not be viewed as only educational; rather, we believe the most prudent approach is to check your data to assess the validity of the outlier status, and determine whether you are comfortable with that outlier status based on your service levels and documentation, or if you might need to adjust your practice parameters."

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