A new report from the HHS Office of Inspector General found Oakwood Hospital – Dearborn (Mich.), the 553-bed flagship of Oakwood Healthcare, incorrectly billed Medicare for a malnutrition condition.
According to the OIG, from 2010 through 2012, Oakwood sent three claims to Medicare for kwashiorkor treatment when a different code should've been used. Kwashiorkor is a form of severe protein malnutrition that mostly affects children in famine-stricken areas and developing countries.
Consequently, Oakwood received $47,860 in Medicare overpayments, which the OIG said the hospital must repay. Oakwood officials agreed with the OIG's finding.
Oakwood is the seventh hospital since February to be flagged for inappropriate kwashiorkor billing. The combined overpayments for those seven cases total $811,480.
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