This is a guest post from my friend Beth Morgan, CPC. MCS-P of Medical Bill Detectives.

Most of us don’t bother to look at our medical bills. We just assume that they are correct and that our insurance company paid them. The thought of second guessing or challenging them never crosses our mind.  Yet a Harvard Law & Medical Study indicates that a high percentage of them could be incorrect.  Now, I’m not saying that all of them are wrong, just that they warrant checking.

Here are ten reasons why you should check your hospital bill for errors and overcharges.  It is in your best interest to check each bill for these ten reasons.

1.  Was it you? If you are a Jr. you might be confused with a Sr. when rushed registrars enter data from a pre-existing patient. I have observed several times, registrars confusing patients with the same first and last names.

Make sure you were there and actually received the services/procedures on the date listed on the bill. Keep all your medical appointments on a calendar and double-check your calendar dates with the dates shown on the bill.

2.  Duplicate billing.  Did your doctor order only one test, but you were billed for two? Entering a bill for services/procedures takes concentration and data entry errors can result in a patient being charged more than once for the same service, supply, or medication. Check with your physician to verify how many tests were ordered on the day in question.

3.  Hospital stay days.  A hospital stay charge should only be from your admission date until your discharge date. You should not be charged for the day you were released to go home (discharge date).

4.  Wrong room. You’ll also want to be sure you are charged for the room you were in. You should “not” be billed for an ICU room if you were in a semi-private room; nor should you be charged for a private room when you had a roommate.

5.  Operating time. Hospitals bill for more time than they should. They often bill for operating room set up or clean up/breakdown. These charges are included in the cost of the operating procedure and are therefore disallowed. Also, the operating room time billed should be the same as the anesthesia time billed.

6.  Over coding. This is where a more expensive procedure/service is charged when a lesser one would do. For example, a name-brand medication instead of its generic alternative, or a longer office visit that includes paper work time when only the actual face-to-face time should be charged.

7.  Data entry errors.   Data entry errors caused by hitting the wrong key or too many keys, or interpreting the given information incorrectly, can cost you thousands of dollars because of one innocent mistake.

8.  Overcharging. Are there charges on your hospital bill for a “Mucus Disposal Receptacle” (box of Kleenex)? A “Dental Cleanser” (toothbrush)? A “Dressing Change” (change of bandage)? “Tubing” (IV)? All these charges should be covered in the cost of your procedure and not broken out separately. Surgical instruments should not be charged to you.

9.  Insurance coverage limits. Does your insurance plan have a cap on paid medical costs? If so, checking your medical bills for errors, overcharges, and bogus charges can save you thousands of dollars and ensure you don’t go over your insurance coverage limit.

10. Protecting yourself and your insurance company. Don’t pay more than you owe! Ninety percent of hospital and medical bills contain errors and overcharges. According to the U.S. government, millions of dollars worth of medical billing errors and bogus insurance denials go undetected each year.

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Medical Bill Detectives is a Subsidiary of Medical Bill Consultants^TM, LLC.

We’ve been mentioned in the January 2008 issue of “O” magazine and on an August, 2008 edition of CBS Evening News.