IBC requires that professional claims be billed on one CMS-1500 claim form or
electronic 837P transaction as it relates to two or more services performed for
the same patient, by the same performing provider, and on the same date of
service. The only exception would be when we specifically require services to
be billed on separate claims based on an IBC policy (i.e., assistant or
co-surgery claims).
Claims submitted otherwise are considered split-billed claims when there is no
policy that requires billing on separate claims. More specifically, claims are
considered split billed when more than one claim is submitted for payment for
two or more services performed for the same patient, by the same performing
provider, and on the same date of service and there is no policy to support
split billing. Some examples of split billing include:
-
two or more procedures and/or services performed by the same performing
provider, on the same date of service, on the same patient, submitted on more
than one claim form;
-
services considered included in the primary services and procedures as part of
the expected services for the codes billed on separate claim forms.
Providers must bill for all services performed on the same day for the same
patient on a single claim form. Failure to do so prohibits the application of
all necessary edits and/or adjudication logic when processing the claim. As a
result, claims may be under or overpaid.
Based on recent routine reviews of paid claims data, IBC has identified
numerous instances of split-billed claims. Please note that IBC will adjust and
reprocess split-billed claims received prior to October 1, 2011, consistent
with the terms of its provider agreements, including without limitation its
Provider Manual for Participating Professional Providers and Hospital
Manual for Participating Hospitals, Ancillary Facilities, and Ancillary
Providers.
For claims received on or after October 1, 2011, if more than one
CMS-1500 claim form or electronic 837P transaction is received for services
performed on the same patient, by the same performing provider, and on the same
date of service as a previously submitted claim, and there is no policy to
support split billing, we will adjust all individually submitted claims to
deny. Providers will be required to submit the split-billed services as a
single, new claim for payment consideration.
To the extent that service(s) for which there is no policy to support split
billing is inadvertently omitted from a previously submitted claim, the
previous claim should be corrected. To submit a corrected claim, please use the
Claim INFO Adjustment Submission transaction on the NaviNet? web portal.
Providers who are not NaviNet enabled should use the Provider Automated System
by calling 1-800-ASK-BLUE. Please do not submit
a separate claim for the omitted services, as that will create a split-billed
claim and all individually submitted claims will be adjusted to deny.
If you have any questions regarding these billing procedures, please contact
your Network Coordinator.