The Associated Press/The Washington Post: "Tired of paying bogus claims, then chasing the scammers, Medicare announced Friday it is deploying screening technology similar to what’s widely used by credit card companies to head off fraud. Up to now, the $500 billion-a-year government health program for seniors has basically paid claims first and asked questions later in a system dubbed 'pay and chase.' The technology upgrade should help deter flagrant abuses such as the small clinic that suddenly starts billing more for a particular outpatient procedure — intravenous infusions, for example — than major hospitals in its area" (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/17).

Philadelphia Inquirer: "The $77 million in funding is part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed in 2010. 'Medical data is in lots of different pots,' Sebelius said at a news conference after the announcement at a summit on health-care fraud at the University of the Sciences. 'We wanted to be able to spot the doctor claiming to be in six cities billing for the same procedure on the 16th of June.' U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder joined Sebelius and others involved in fighting health-care fraud at the summit. This is the sixth such gathering, following ones held in Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, and Detroit. The Obama administration has emphasized fighting fraud as part of its much-discussed health-care plan" (Sell, 6/18).

The Wall Street Journal: "A Lewin Group report from 2009 describes the new approach like this: an initial tier of simple screens, then a predictive model 'that identifies improper payments, fraud and abuse by ‘scoring’ the claim, based on its characteristics.' Using predictive modeling 'can be significantly more effective' than the after-the-fact system, the report says. ... UnitedHealth Group has said it saved about $125 million over two years using predictive modeling" (Hobson, 6/17).