The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) is pleased to announce that INTERTEL, Inc. (www.intertelinc.com), one of the original providers of Medical Canvass Investigations, has joined the organization as a strategic partner.
INTERTEL's Medical Check investigations are designed to canvass medical facilities in a specific geographical area to verify when and where an insurance claimant may have received medical treatment in order to quickly spot potential fraud.
Starting at the claimant's home or work address, INTERTEL's Medical Check canvasses the closest 15 facilities up to a 70-mile radius and gathers detailed information that may indicate the presence of a pre-existing condition including:
- Whether the claimant received treatment prior to the date of loss;
- Whether the claimant previously sought treatment for the same alleged injuries;
- Whether the claimant has a history of injury claims; and,
- Whether the reported injuries occurred outside the course of employment.
"Medical fraud against auto and workers compensation insurers is a major focus of our organization," said NICB President and CEO Joe Wehrle. "Partnering with INTERTEL will provide us with vital data that will help uncover potential fraud against our member companies – fraud that impacts the cost of insurance and healthcare for all Americans."
"We're not surprised that many of the world's largest insurance companies, third-party administrators and self-insured organizations choose INTERTEL as the specialized provider of medical treatment information and believe our members will benefit substantially from this strategic partnership," he added.
Steven D. DeRossett, INTERTEL's vice president of client services, said the benefit of the partnership is mutual. "We look forward to serving NICB's member companies in the fight against insurance fraud and believe our technology will be second to none in achieving significant results," he said.