Do you know the difference between “telefraud schemes” and “telehealth fraud”? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services explains the difference in Inspector General’s recent press release.
“We are aware of concerns raised regarding enforcement actions related to “telefraud” schemes, and it is important to distinguish those schemes from telehealth fraud. In the last few years, OIG has conducted several large investigations of fraud schemes that inappropriately leveraged the reach of telemarketing schemes in combination with unscrupulous doctors conducting sham remote visits to increase the size and scale of the perpetrator’s criminal operations. In many cases, the criminals did not bill for the sham telehealth visit. Instead, the perpetrators billed fraudulently for other items or services, like durable medical equipment or genetic tests. We will continue to vigilantly pursue these “telefraud” schemes and monitor the evolution of scams that may relate to telehealth.”
Deputy Inspector General Grimm on Telehealth
The key takeaway remains the same, however. More enforcement actions and scrutiny into telehealth practices. Federal and state agencies are aggressively focusing its fraud investigations in this area. The government boasts of large scale, multi-agency task forces and record setting takedown operations. Learn more about our telemedicine practice area, the risks to innocent parties who may get caught up in these wide-net prosecutions, and possible defenses to these serious criminal charges. If you are being investigated by authorities, make sure you’re in good hands.
Ron Herman focuses on defending white collar cases, with experience representing various parties in the healthcare field. Ron’s clients included healthcare providers, owners, managers, and entrepreneurs in the medical field, charged with billing for services not provided, submitting false claims, prescribing medications and medical equipment that were not medically needed, and related conspiracy and fraud charges. We are selective in the types of cases we represent, taking on the most serious and complex charges. Contact us to see how we can work together.