Case of Workers’ Compensation Fraud Highlights Importance of Patient Identification

Photographing patients for medical records and retaining recorded footage of emergency departments (EDs) is especially useful in identifying individuals who commit fraudulent acts against hospitals, states a January 2, 2014, EHS Today article. The article details the case of a man in Washington state who is accused of using false names, false birthdates, and false Social Security numbers at more than three dozen emergency rooms and urgent-care clinics throughout western Washington to get prescriptions for Vicodin, Percocet, and other painkillers. The man, who presented with visible cuts and other injuries that he claimed resulted from construction jobs as an ironworker, allegedly opened 51 workers’ compensation claims with the Department of Labor & Industries that were associated with more than $134,000 in unpaid medical fees.