Effort aims to create an international Network of health care counter fraud organizations and professionals and pursue a co-operative and collaborative approach to combating the problem of health care fraud.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) today announced the signing of a formal Memorandum of Understanding with two like-minded organizations--the Canadian Health Care Anti-fraud Association (CHCAA) and the European Healthcare Fraud and Corruption Network (EHFCN). All three organizations share the common goal of reducing and eliminating health care fraud in their respective jurisdictions as well as globally.
"Health care fraud is a serious problem with a staggering price tag estimated between $67 billion and $226 billion annually in the U.S. alone. Our counterparts in Canada and Europe can also attest to the devastating effects of health care fraud on their health systems. In this globalized world, health care fraud knows no boundaries and to beat it we need a co-operative, collaborative approach," says NHCAA Executive Director Louis Saccoccio.
Health care fraud schemes have become exportable and fraud trends are becoming more and more similar from country to country. These schemes continue to grow in their complexity and represent a multi-billion dollar cost to health care and benefit payers worldwide. Our evolving global health care landscape creates a heightened need for international cooperation between entities dedicated to addressing this problem.
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between NHCAA, CHCAA and EHFCN represents the launching of an international Network of health care counter fraud organizations that are engaged in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of health care fraud.
In describing the value of this effort, Darrell Langlois, 2009 Chair of the NHCAA Board of Directors explains, "In its 24 year history, NHCAA and its members have learned that nothing strikes at the heart of the fraud problem more effectively or more quickly than working with one another to solve it. The sharing of information and expertise among health insurers and law enforcement with the goal of rooting out fraud has always been a cornerstone of NHCAA, resulting in many successes, and we're excited to expand our partnerships globally to harness the full power of counter fraud efforts worldwide."
Through strategic partnerships, the Network intends to raise awareness internationally about the issue of health care fraud while gathering and sharing information on the trends, issues, facts and figures relating to the problem. In addition, the Network will cooperatively work to improve international standards of practice around fraud prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution. This includes developing of expert training programs offered as joint educational efforts among the participating organizations in order to bolster and prepare the world's health care anti-fraud professionals.
The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) - Established in 1985 by several private health insurers and federal and state government officials, NHCAA is the only national U.S. organization devoted exclusively to combating health care fraud. NHCAA's mission is to protect and serve the public interest by raising awareness and improving the detection, investigation, prosecution and prevention of health care fraud. Since its founding, NHCAA has remained a private-public partnership with its members comprising the nation's most prominent private health insurers as well as those Federal, state and local government law enforcement and regulatory agencies having jurisdiction over health care fraud. www.nhcaa.org
The Canadian Health Care Anti-fraud Association (CHCAA) - Founded in 2000 to give a voice to the public and private sector health care organizations interested in preventing fraud in the Canadian health care environment. The CHCAA's Vision is to improve the Canadian Health Care environment by eliminating health care fraud and its Mission is to combat health care fraud and assist in restoring the integrity of the Canadian health care system. One of the key objectives of the CHCAA is to build public, private, national and international partnerships with insurance carriers, service providers, law enforcement, health regulatory bodies, consumer groups and provider associations to protect the Canadian health care system from fraud. www.chcaa.org
The European Healthcare Fraud and Corruption Network (EHFCN) - Established in 2005, EHFCN is the only European organization dedicated to combating healthcare fraud and corruption across Europe. The network represents 25 member associations in 15 countries, which provide healthcare services to millions of people in Europe. EHFCN's primary objective is to reduce fraud and corruption in healthcare: reducing losses will help bring back money to healthcare services for the benefit of every patient. EHFCN provides information, tools, training and assistance in fighting fraud and corruption as well as a platform for its members to exchange information and ideas. EHFCN is a not-for-profit organization based in Brussels and financed through subscription fees. www.ehfcn.org
SOURCE National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association Copyright©2009 PR Newswire. All rights reserved |