The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) has identified a new fraudulent scheme that involves signing up Medicare enrollees for remote patient monitoring (RPM). Legitimate RPM uses medical devices such as scales, glucose monitors, blood pressure cuffs, cardiac rhythm devices, and other equipment to remotely monitor for anomalies in patients with chronic medical conditions. This new scam is signing up Medicare enrollees for services regardless of medical necessity, promising monthly monitoring that often never occurs, and billing the enrollees anyway.

In its alert, OIG includes information on how to protect beneficiaries against these new scams. Learn more here.