Texas Dentists for Medicaid Reform wrote a post on its website Sept. 23 pointing out that the state's HHS Office of Inspector General has given "a lion's share of attention" to dentists despite the many other Medicaid health professions represented in the office's quarterly report.
TDMR also highlighted the fact that the OIG has been tasked with investigating Texas Medicaid dentists every year since 2011, according to a review of state budgets.
The organization sent a question to the OIG communications director, Andrés Araiza, PhD, asking, "Is there some sort of focus by OIG on Medicaid dentistry as being more likely to commit waste, fraud and abuse than other healthcare professions?"
Dr. Araiza responded by saying OIG gets its referrals from many sources, including the public, managed care organizations, dental maintenance organizations and its own data analytics. He also told the organization OIG focuses most closely on cases with the strongest supportive evidence and best recovery potential.
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