Learn from OIG coding audits and take steps to prevent denials

March 29th, 2022

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Note:  The following article synopsis was NOT provided by HCPro. It was created by Find-A-Code/innoviHealth.

Article Overview

This article is about using Office of Inspector General audit reports as a practical reference for compliance-focused internal auditing. It is aimed at healthcare compliance, coding, and revenue integrity professionals who want to better understand how audit risk areas are identified, how samples are organized, and how audit findings are reported and resolved. The discussion stays at a general process level and highlights the kinds of audit topics and operational considerations organizations may review when building or refining an audit program.

Why This Topic Matters

Organizations can use publicly available OIG audits to learn where compliance risks tend to arise and how internal audit programs can be targeted more effectively. That matters because better audit planning can support early detection of issues, more consistent monitoring, and stronger compliance operations.

Article Sections

  1. How to identify risk areas

    This section discusses broad ways organizations can recognize potential compliance and billing risk areas before building an audit plan. It also references common sources used to inform risk assessment and audit prioritization.

  2. How to select the audit sample

    This section outlines general considerations for choosing an audit sample and organizing it around identified risk areas. It also addresses the relationship between routine monitoring, statistically valid sampling, and audit policy structure.

  3. Selecting the records

    This section describes the process of narrowing records from a defined universe for review and mentions common tools used to support sample selection. It focuses on operational handling of record selection within an audit workflow.

  4. Reporting results

    This section covers how audit results are communicated, reviewed, and finalized. It also notes the need to address discrepancies and related financial findings within the compliance process.

What You Will Learn

  • How public OIG audit reports can inform internal compliance audits
  • How organizations identify broad areas of billing and documentation risk
  • How audit samples are organized around risk-based priorities
  • How records are selected for review from a defined population
  • How audit results are communicated and resolved internally

Who Should Read This

  • Healthcare compliance professionals
  • Medical coders and coding auditors
  • Revenue integrity teams
  • Compliance officers
  • Billing and reimbursement staff
  • Healthcare administrators

Codes Discussed

  • DRG: 149
  • DRG: 312
  • DRG: 313
  • DRG: 518
  • DRG: 519
  • DRG: 520
  • DRG: 742
  • DRG: 947
  • DRG: 948

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