Prime Sees Major Spike in Telemedicine-Based Rx Fraud
August
26
Prime Therapeutics LLC saw telemedicine schemes contribute to a 60% year-over-year increase in reported false claims from 2020 to 2021. The Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliate-owned PBM, which is in its second full year of an artificial intelligence-powered fraud, waste and abuse (FWA) reduction program, reported that the program saved its health plan clients $285 million in 2020, in part because it detected telemedicine-driven schemes.
Elan Rubinstein, Pharm.D., head of pharmacy benefits consulting firm EB Rubinstein Associates, says it’s unsurprising that increased telemedicine led to a spike in prescription fraud.
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