Morristown Medical Center Incorrectly Billed Medicare Inpatient Claims with Kwashiorkor.

摘要

Kwashiorkor is a form of severe protein malnutrition. It generally affects children living in tropical and subtropical parts of the world during periods of famine or insufficient food supply. Cases in the United States are rare. The Medicare program provides health insurance coverage primarily to people aged 65 or older; however, for calendar years (CYs) 2010 and 2011, Medicare paid hospitals $711 million for claims that included a diagnosis code for Kwashiorkor. Therefore, we are conducting a series of reviews of hospitals with claims that include this diagnosis code. Our objective was to determine whether Morristown Medical Center complied with Medicare billing requirements for Kwashiorkor.