The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) and the American Association of Retired Persons are urging senior citizens to become "fraudbusters" by carefully reviewing their Medicare statements and reporting questionable charges to a nationwide hotline.

Medicare statements also now carry a notice telling recipients they can request an itemized statement from their physician’s office.

You can avoid inquiries by providing your patients with billing information before they ask. If a patient calls your office questioning a statement, alert your staff to accommodate the patient as quickly and courteously as possible. A quick initial response could avoid questions from HCFA later.