What term best describes billing separately for components of a single procedure to boost reimbursement?

• A. Unbundling
• B. Procedure compounding
• C. Fictitious services
• D. Decompressing

Answer: (A)

Unbundling is billing separately for components of a single procedure to boost reimbursement. In many procedures, one global code covers all parts of the service. When a payer codes each component separately to maximize payment, it violates rules that require bundled coding and can trigger audits or recoupments. This fits the concept of unbundling, which is discouraged and often considered inappropriate billing.

The other terms don’t describe this practice: procedure compounding isn’t a standard billing term here, fictitious services would mean charging for services not provided, and decompressing isn’t related to billing practices.