HHS OIG will investigate 'incident to' Medicare billing

Oct 12 2011

Medscape: HHS Probes 'Incident-To' Care by Unqualified Nonphysicians
A watchdog agency in the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wants to know how many office visits, consultations, eye exams, skin grafts, and other services are performed by unqualified nonphysicians under Medicare's "incident-to" billing rules. This is just one new investigation that the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) plans to conduct next year ... A physician can bill for an employee's work as if the physician had performed it, as long as it is "incident to" the physician's services (Lowes, 10/10).