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Article: Federal government takes aim at transplant centers' organ acquisition cost reporting practices.
- Article from:
- Transplant News
- Article date:
- August 31, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Transplant Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The federal government has fired a powerful warning shot aimed at US transplant centers' inadequate record keeping and reporting practices for organ acquisition costs reimbursed by the Medicare program.
In July and August the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) sent letters to 3 major US transplant centers ordering them to repay more than $4.5 million in organ acquisition overcharges if they cannot document the validity of the expenses.
It had been widely known the HHS OIG was investigating transplant center organ acquisition charges and the findings seem certain to send shock waves through the transplant ...