The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on May 26 announced law enforcement actions for several COVID-19-related Medicare fraud schemes totaling $143 million. The actions involved the exploitation of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) policies designed to increase access to care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fourteen defendants were charged for their actions involving the exploitation of the broadened COVID-19 emergency declaration, telehealth regulations, and rules.
Topics: medical office compliance, medical fraud, Medicare fraud, medicare compliance
Medical information is the number one prime target when it comes to cybersecurity hacks, FBI Computer Scientist Thomas Ervin at Practice Management Institute’s National Conference for Medical Office Professionals in December. A single click on a phishing email can turn a machine into a “slave,” as termed in the cybersecurity industry. Phishing email incidents are not new and have increased more than 200 percent. It has become so prevalent that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity Division has set up a website to report phishing emails. Ervin, FBI Special Agent Raymond Martinez, and Cybersecurity Expert Richard Avery delivered an eye-opening demonstration to show how easy it can be for your personal and work data to be compromised by a hacker. Cybercriminals target all types of organizations and these experts warned that healthcare entities need to be especially vigilant.
Topics: Practice management, medical office manager topics, medical office compliance, medical practice issues, medical fraud, medical identity theft, HIPAA compliance
In a busy medical practice, the risk of error runs high. This is a dangerous assertion when you consider that mistakes in a medical record can negatively impact a patient’s health. Mistakes made repeatedly in medical claims may flag your practice for an audit and, if overpayments are found, can result in huge fines and penalties from the government.
Topics: Practice management, PMI Certification, cmom certification, medical practice issues, medical fraud, medical billing, medicare
In 2017, 16.7 million people in the U.S. experienced some type of identity theft with $17 billion in losses to organizations, according to a recent Harris Poll. Medical identity theft is fraud and recognizing and controlling it is a growing and serious compliance concern for medical office managers.
Topics: Practice management, CMOM, Certified Medical Office Manager, medical office manager topics, medical office compliance, medical practice issues, medical fraud, medical identity theft