Medicare Incorrectly Paid Providers for Emergency Ambulance Transports From Hospitals to Skilled Nursing Facilities

A prior OIG review found that Medicare made improper and potentially improper payments of $1.9 million to providers for emergency ambulance transports to destinations other than hospitals or skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) with dates of service from calendar years (CYs) 2014 through 2016. As part of that review, we identified $3.2 million in payments for emergency ambulance transports from hospitals to SNFs. Because hospitals are capable of providing emergency services, we conducted this separate review of emergency ambulance transports from hospitals to SNFs to determine the appropriateness of billing for them as emergency ambulance transports.