Florida Health Officials Use Voice Recognition Technology and IVR System to Enhance Patient Care

For those companies that have used voice recognition software with the accompanying IVR system, the benefits are obvious. And apparently the adoption of voice recognition is spanning to more industries than just the traditional call center operations.

The Associated Press (News - Alert) and the Miami Herald have reported that health officials in Florida will start using voice recognition to verify if Miami-Dade County patients are receiving the home health care services that the state is paying for. This pilot program is intended to be presented on July in South Florida by the state's Agency for Health Care Administration.

Florida Health officials also said that South Florida is the national epicenter of Medicare and Medicaid fraud. According to investigators, medical providers have billed the system millions in home health care services that we're never given. This pilot program is a part of a 2009 law that gives Florida more power to crack down on fraud.

According to NBC Miami, David Marrero, a Miami HIV/AIDS clinic owner was recently convicted of running a health care fraud scheme that amounted the $5.8 million. The fraud scheme involved Marrero's aunt, 76 years of age, as one of his many fake 'patients' that needed care. Marrero, 49, was found guilty of using his business, Tendercare Medical Center Inc., to defraud Medicare in a scheme.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said that Marrero started to bill Medicare for injection and infusion medications that were meant to treat HIV and aids related blood disorders.

The fraud scheme was run between January of 2005 and December of 2007. Marrero was also found guilty of money laundering as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering charges.

The South Florida Business Journal notes that according to the U.S. Department of Justice, Medicare paid approximately $2.7 million due to David Marrero's fraudulent claims. Marrero is set to be sentenced on July 30, 2010. Marrero faces up to 10 prison years on each count. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000 or double the gain or loss, whichever is greater. This case involving David Marrero is a part of a Justice Department crackdown by a strike force that was started in Miami in 2007.

Anuradha Shukla is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Anuradha's article, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Kelly McGuire