The Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a consumer alert on November 22, 2023, bringing to fore a fraud scheme revolving around monthly billing for remote patient monitoring (RPM). This unexpected disclosure, made while many were busy with Thanksgiving holiday preparations, shines the spotlight on an issue that has been slowly escalating.
What makes this Alert significant is that it aligns rather closely with several substantial civil and criminal investigations that have occurred over the past few years. These investigations targeted fraud schemes anchored in companies that professed to offer telemedicine or telehealth services. Nonetheless, these entities were allegedly involved in kickbacks or providing medical services considered substandard.
These allegations, put forward by Foley & Lardner LLP, throws a degree of caution to the rapidly evolving field of digital health. Remote patient monitoring, a keystone of contemporary healthcare reform, has been hailed as a promising way to achieve improved patient outcomes and reduced healthcare costs. However the emergence of fraud schemes such as this introduces a layer of complexity and risk that must be managed.
Further understanding of the exact nature of these fraud schemes and additional insights into OIG’s response can be found in the full report, accessible here.
It is crucial for legal professionals in corporations and law firms, particularly those dealing with healthcare, to understand the potential implications of these fraud schemes. It is equally important to be aware of the regulatory and compliance measures in place to tackle such challenges in RPM and wider telehealth services.
It remains to be seen how this OIG Alert could shape not only the trajectory of telehealth and remote patient monitoring services but also the standards, regulatory measures and compliance mechanisms within the burgeoning field of digital health.