Association Between Treatment by Fraud and Abuse Perpetrators and Health Outcomes Among Medicare Beneficiaries.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Fraud and abuse contribute to unnecessary spending in the Medicare program, and federal agencies have prioritized fund recovery and the exclusion of health care practitioners who violate policy. However, the human costs of fraud and abuse in terms of patient health are unknown.

Objective

To assess whether Medicare beneficiaries' receipt of health care services from fraud and abuse perpetrators (FAPs) is associated with worse health outcomes.

Design, setting, and participants

Retrospective cross-sectional study comparing mortality and emergency hospitalization rates of 8204 patients treated by an FAP with those among patients treated by a randomly selected non-FAP in 2013. Known FAPs were identified from the December 2018 List of Excluded Individuals/Entitie

SUBMITTER: Nicholas LH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6820041 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature