Fraud!
Illinois has a problem.....but, your state does too. It's called fraud and it robs many millions of dollars from our Medicare and Medicaid system.....and ultimately robs needy and deserving people of the care they need.
This article from Home Health Care News (www.homehealthcarenews.com) spells out the over 100 million dollars of fraudulent billing in Illinois: https://homehealthcarenews.com/2017/12/illinois-home-health-fraud-tops-100-million
To imagine the problem only exists in IL is shortsighted. In every state I've ever been in, liaisons recount tales of underhanded doings to generate referrals from various competitors. The list of inducements is endless but includes cash, dinners, sports tickets, furniture, manicures, margaritas, hookers (yes, you read that right), and any other against-the-rules thing you can imagine.
It usually starts innocently enough. Pens, post it pads, mugs. The we move on to candy jars that are refilled on some regular basis, boxes of gourmet donuts, coffee. Then, under the guise of "inservice education" we move onto full breakfast for the entire staff, lunches, perhaps even dinners....
It becomes and endless upward spiral of who can spend more to catch the attention of fickle referral sources and the person with the biggest credit limit wins.
While I know this sounds harsh...but if you are taking part in any of these activities, you are part of the problem.
It shouldn't be this way....and it doesn't have to. We've proven time and time again that you can have a professional sales force generating quality patient referrals without the need for any of these inducements. We teach sales team how to sell based upon all of your strengths and advantages and NOT on the number of calories (or hookers) you can provide. It's my career goal in this industry to change the model of the way we sell and build our businesses......but it's a lonely island I'm standing on.
Is there a bright spot in this discussion? Yes....most definitely. The OIG has more resources available to it than ever before. They are able to go after more and more cases and catch fraudulent activity earlier in the process. Whistleblowers are encouraged, where they used to be ridiculed. A new day is coming and you definitely want to be on the right side of history.
Fraud runs more deeply in these agencies than simply the sales department.....but sales is where it starts or is empowered. Stop the insanity and give your team the tools they'll need to be true salespeople....and not simply smiling caterers. If you don't know where to turn, call me and I'll show you how.
Yes...it's lonely out on this island....but if you'll join me we can create something great in this industry....and you'll NEVER have a problem sleeping at night.
Best,
Michael Giudicissi
505-798-2530
