Nathaniel Lacktman Discusses OIG Alert on Telemedicine Fraud

Foley & Lardner LLP Partner Nathaniel Lacktman is quoted in the Healthcare Risk Management article, “OIG Issues Alert on Telemedicine Fraud,” outlining the recent telemedicine fraud alert by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Inspector General (OIG).

Lacktman, chair of Foley’s national Telemedicine & Digital Health Industry Team, says “OIG issued the alert in response to repeated requests to testify in cases involving telemedicine fraud.” The alert describes OIG’s position on what they will testify to regarding the issue and gives a roadmap of warning signs that an arrangement with a telemedicine provider may be improper.

“Simultaneously, it is a message to the industry at large that an increasing number of arrangements with a similar pattern have been identified, and the government wants them to stop it,” Lacktman explained. “The bullet points they lay out in the alert are an amalgamation of different factual scenarios that the government has seen emerge, with suspect conditions or red flags. It can serve as a mini-audit tool to help reduce the risk they are violating the Anti-Kickback Statute.”

Lacktman added that the list of warning signs provided by the OIG is not exhaustive and the “presence or lack of any these factors does not automatically mean the arrangement is legal or illegal.”