When you run a medical practice, you typically strive to make sure all of your business practices are ethical. Even the most ethical physicians might find that an accidental misstep or oversight results in a charge of healthcare fraud, and in this situation, it is important for you to know what to do.
Most of the time, you likely take steps to make sure your medical practice follows all of the necessary guidelines. According to HealthMediaLeaders.com, many people think that healthcare fraud occurs only when a physician intends to over bill the patients or provides fraudulent services. However, your staff might accidentally commit healthcare fraud if you overlook small details during the day-to-day running of your practice. If you write a prescription but the patient does not go to the pharmacy, you generally have to credit this medication back to the pharmacy. If one of your staff members does not track which prescriptions were not picked up, your practice may potentially face fraud charges. Additionally, it is important to make sure your license is always current. This is because if your license is not current for even a few days, any bills you send may be fraudulent.
Sometimes the pace of your work may cause someone to say you are committing fraud. Groups like Medicare usually have an estimate for how long certain procedures should take. You may face fraud charges if you bill too many of these procedures in one day, even if you performed all of them. It is important to remember that a medical practice can face fraud charges even if one of your staff members committed the error. Because of this, it is a good idea to make sure that all of your staff members understand the guidelines of different healthcare companies and that your practice has a clear system for reporting information.
When someone says that your healthcare practice is committing fraud, it is important to take these charges seriously. Your practice may face severe consequences during an audit, such as the loss of your Medicare number. You can find more information about this subject on our webpage.
