- the appropriateness of payments and oversight for interventional pain management, which now accounts for $2 billion in Medicare billing annually;
- the appropriateness of ASC payment rates and the new rate-setting methodology;
- patient care and safety in physician owned hospitals;
- coding on transfers versus discharges;
- areas with high density of independent diagnostic testing facilities and of high utilization of ultrasound;
- several issues related to long-term-care hospitals; and
- issues related to reassignment of physician payments and benefits.
OIG Work Plan for 2008 — Several Areas of Interest
In 2008, the OIG plans to review several areas of interest to ASC Review readers:
