Most of the nation’s hospital and nursing homes will have to teach their employees how to find fraud and report it to the government under a new federal law. Companies which do at least $5 million a year in Medicaid business must educate all employees and officers on how to detect fraud, waste, and abuse. Moreover, healthcare providers must tell all employees that if they report fraud, they will be protected against retaliation and may be entitled to a share of money recovered by the government.
Congress imposed the new requirement as part of a cost-cutting law, the Deficit Reduction Act, signed by President Bush in February. The administration did not issue any guidance until Dec. 13, and many health care executives are just becoming aware of their obligations.
Read the New York Times article on this new law.