From U Penn Dept of Orthopedic Surgery: Defending Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2014 Apr 17. [Epub ahead of print]

Defending Waste, Fraud, and Abuse.

Bernstein J.

Author information

• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, 424 Stemmler Hall, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA, orthodoc@uphs.upenn.edu.

"In short, orthopaedic surgery is a ripe target for the “waste, fraud, and abuse” crowd. Because most of orthopaedic surgery does not improve life expectancy, it may be perceived as wasteful. Because it is not uncommon for orthopaedic surgeons to participate in the sale of ancillary goods and services, their billing practices can be perceived as abusive. And last, because the rules of coding office visits are more in step with the practice of internal medicine, it is all too easy for an orthopaedic surgeon to engage without intent in what some might denounce as billing fraud."