The OIG has issued a report examining questionable Medicare billing for electrodiagnostic tests, which are used to evaluate patients who may have nerve damage and which the OIG has identified as an area vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse. According to the OIG, 4,901 physicians had questionable billing for Medicare electrodiagnostic tests in 2011, based on seven measures of questionable billing developed by the OIG (e.g., physicians with an unusually high percentage of electrodiagnostic test claims using modifier 59 or 25, physicians with an unusually high average number of miles between the physicians' and beneficiaries' locations, and physicians with an unusually high average number of electrodiagnostic test claims for the same beneficiary on the same day). These questionable claims totaled $139 million in 2011, with physicians in the New York, Los Angeles, and Houston areas having the highest total questionable billing. In response to these findings, the OIG recommend that CMS: increase its monitoring of billing for electrodiagnostic tests; provide additional guidance and education to physicians regarding electrodiagnostic tests, and take appropriate action regarding physicians identified as having inappropriate or questionable billing.
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