An Indiana Company Can Save Governments Millions In Medical Billing Errors
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The city of Chicago and other governments could save millions in medical billing errors, according to an Indiana company that has developed software that finds mistakes made by humans.
What AmeriVeri does, said Vince Fazio, the Plainfield base Director of Business Development, is find and cleanup mistakes.
"We don't look at a hospital bill, we don't look at the room charges, we just look at what the provider is doing," Fazio said.
They find the errors in the medical codes made by third-party administrators. WBBM's Mike Krauser reports.
"The third-party administrator knows there are hidden errors, but everyone seems okay to live with them," Fazio said.
For example, a worker's comp claim for a broken leg mistakenly included a colonoscopy.
"It can be something as a keystroke to cause the error or a click of the mouse," he said.
They find 2- to 3-percent errors on average, he said, and bill for 15-percent of what is corrected. They will run a test for paid claims for free.
"Anywhere between 2- and 3-percent," Fazio said. "And our turnaround time is less than one hour."
They always find errors, he said.
In seven years, "We have not come across a case yet, where we have not found any errors," Fazio said. "You always find errors, even from the best of them."
In a city like Chicago, he said, the annual savings could be $3- to $4-million.
"The largest batch that we ever ran, $3-billion of claims, the percentage on that one was about 6 percent."
Fazio said when pitching the service that would seem like a no-brainer, it is a lot easier to get to a CEO than government officials.
"There is resistance to change," Fazio said
He said the city of Chicago, several years ago, said thanks, but no thanks.
