Uncovering Questionable Billing Practices By Community Behavioral Health Centers
Community Behavioral Health Centers (CBHCs) play a vital role in providing mental health and substance use disorder services to low-income and underserved communities. However, recent reports suggest that some CBHCs engage in questionable billing practices, putting them and their patients at risk of legal troubles and financial harm. As a leading medical billing service provider, 24/7 Medical Billing Services has seen first-hand how these practices can negatively impact CBHCs’ bottom line and reputation. Some of the most common questionable billing practices by community behavioral health centers: Upcoding: Upcoding is the practice of billing for a more expensive service than the one provided. CBHCs may upcode by listing more intensive services than were actually performed, in order to receive a higher payment rate. For example, CBHCs billing for an hour-long therapy session when only 30 minutes were provided. This practice is fraudulent and illegal. Not only can it lead to ...