The HHS Office of Inspector General has released results of two audits, finding that two hospitals received overpayments from Medicare over the past several years.
At University Hospitals Case Medical Center, the 647-bed teaching facility within Cleveland-based University Hospitals, the OIG found $117,863 in incorrectly coded claims for kwashiorkor. Kwashiorkor is a form of severe protein malnutrition that mostly affects children in famine-stricken areas and developing countries. UH Case Medical Center is the sixth hospital in the past two months to be flagged by the OIG for kwashiorkor billing errors.
The OIG also found $254,514 in Medicare overpayments at Bryan Medical Center, the 672-bed flagship hospital of Bryan Health in Lincoln, Neb. Most of the errors stemmed from medical necessity of inpatient admissions.
UH officials agreed with all of the OIG's findings, while Bryan Health executives agreed with most. Bryan Health planned to appeal some claims it viewed were necessary for inpatient admissions, but the OIG stood by its findings.
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