Report Highlights Risks in Telehealth Billing

Monday, December 19, 2022 | 0

While the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs had anticipated no additional danger associated with telehealth services during the pandemic compared with in-person visits, its Office of Inspector General found some potential program integrity risks.

The risks included providers potentially billing for supplies not rendered and unnecessary medical services, treating claimants without required supervision and billing without appropriate codes, the OIG said in a memo.

In line with a national trend, the federal program saw a dramatic increase in telehealth services during the pandemic: Claimants used about 58,000 telemedicine services between March 2020 and February 2021, compared with 1,700 telehealth services used between March 2019 and February 2020.

Most of the telemedicine services were for appointments with primary care providers, specialists and behavioral health services, according to the OIG memo.

The OIG encourages the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs to develop additional guidance for providers to ensure the development of proper telehealth modifier codes used in medical billing.

A copy of the OIG’s memo is here.

Business Insurance is a sister publication of WorkCompCentral. More stories are here.