Medicare turns to more comprehensive tools to find fraud

Federal Times: The Recovery Board, which oversees the $275 billion economic stimulus package that was approved by the federal government in 2009, is using a software platform from Palantir Technologies, based in Palo Alto, Calif. "The software tool analyzes information contained on various government-maintained databases — GSA's list of suspended or debarred contractors, the Treasury Department's financial crimes network and other law enforcement records — along with open-source data such as newspaper articles, lawsuits and other public documents. By viewing these data in a more holistic way, analysts at the Recovery Board can draw connections between individuals and companies that might not be apparent otherwise." The Obama administration is "expanding the initiative to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, which accounted for roughly 60 percent of the $110 billion in improper payments the government made last year. One pilot will test whether the Palantir tool can help investigate the thousands of tips Medicare receives through its 1-800 hot line. A second pilot will help CMS identify potentially fraudulent medical providers in the Southern region of the country, where fraud is prevalent" (Kauffman, 6/27).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.