The extraordinary increase in telehealth usage during the COVID-19 pandemic has opened the door for potential healthcare fraud, waste, and abuse (FWA), particularly around upcoding. Cotiviti CEO Emad Rizk, M.D., recently appeared on the Healthcare Financial Management Association’s (HFMA) Voices in Healthcare Finance podcast to discuss the contributing factors, such as inappropriate levels of care being administered via telehealth, and how health plans can protect themselves. Listen to the interview right here on the Cotiviti blog.
Dr. Rizk's interview begins at the 3:50 mark in the podcast:
“Keep in mind that fraud, waste, and abuse is not just a financial issue. It is a quality issue. You want the right care to be given to the right patients in the right care setting. Think of telehealth as a setting.”
For more actions health plans should consider to combat FWA in the current environment, read Dr. Rizk’s recent article about building a data defense against healthcare fraud in Health IT Answers.