Tennessee's Office of the Inspector General wants to be sure medical professionals know about new legislation designed to reduce TennCare drug fraud. So the state OIG just sent out letters to more than 30,000 doctors, pharmacists and nurses educating them on the details of a new law designed to cut down on patient "doctor shopping" (visiting multiple doctors to get similar or the same medications from each). The state's OIG was created three years ago specifically to root out and prosecute fraud against TennCare. Since its inception in February 2005, the office has arrested 460 individuals for TennCare fraud, has collected more than $700,000 in restitution, and avoided more than $75 million in costs.
To learn more about the new law:
- read this Memphis Business Journal item
[From Memphis Business Journal, July 25, 2007]
The letters advise physicians and others that it is a Class E felony for a person to "willingly go to different providers, with the intent to deceive, in search of a controlled substance without disclosing to the provider they have already received one from another provider within a 30-day period, and either the clinical visit or the controlled substance was paid for by TennCare."
[Source: FierceHealthcare, July 27, 2007]
