It’s been called the most sinister, the most egregious, the worst kind of health care fraud – providers performing medically unnecessary procedures. When this type of fraud makes the headlines, it is indeed sensational.

Dental fraud, waste, and abuse (FWA) is often unchecked as most Payer’s dental insurance line represents 10% or less of their total business. The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) estimates $68 to $226 billion is lost annually to Fraud, Waste and Abuse (FWA). This means up to $ 22.6 billion in FWA is overlooked annually.

The recent Department of Justice (DOJ) $155 million False Claims Act settlement with eClinicalWorks highlights a problem that has existed in the EHR software industry for a long time.  Any EHR system that attests to do everything for the integrated health system can’t possibly provide the highest possible level of all aspects of functionality.  Some parts of the system will be concentrated upon while others will get just enough attention so the vendor can say they have the ...

HEALTHCARE  is again the most popular topic for the past few weeks.  Even friends that don’t know much about the industry have asked: what’s going on with Medicare?  Apparently, recent allegations of high dollar medical fraud have raised concerns about Medicare Advantage Plans and Payment Integrity.  One law firm pointed out that this is just the start.  “DOJ’s big settlement — $16.7 million for risk adjustment “upcoding” ...

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) Work Plan for Fiscal Year 2017 provides useful guidance for healthcare providers and payers to monitor their claims for potential fraud and quality of care concerns. The Work Plan (at https://oig.hhs.gov/reports-and-publications/workplan/) details areas where OIG will focus their review efforts by type of provider.