Fraudulent Practices in Billing and Coding
1.) Upcoding
a. This means for example that you go into the hospital for a sprained ankle, but your bill says that you went in for a broken ankle. This happens because major insurance companies who process thousands of computerized bills, overlook these improper coding procedures.
2.) Phantom Billing
a. This has to do with bills that have procedures that were not actually even performed. This impacts health care because it drives up cost by spending money to track how these charges were made. This can also majorly affect a patient’s health insurance, and how future doctors may treat them.
3.) Inflated Hospital Bills
a. This happens when you receive a bill from your hospital, that was supposed to be
1.) Upcoding
a. This means for example that you go into the hospital for a sprained ankle, but your bill says that you went in for a broken ankle. This happens because major insurance companies who process thousands of computerized bills, overlook these improper coding procedures.
2.) Phantom Billing
a. This has to do with bills that have procedures that were not actually even performed. This impacts health care because it drives up cost by spending money to track how these charges were made. This can also majorly affect a patient’s health insurance, and how future doctors may treat them.
3.) Inflated Hospital Bills
a. This happens when you receive a bill from your hospital, that was supposed to be