Data Stream
No One’s Taking Blood to the Bank
Cracking Down on Medicare Fraud
2.86 Billion
$
33%
reduction in blood transfusion units over the last 5 years
(from 15 million to 11 million), according to the American
Red Cross.
in Medicare dollars were recovered through anti-fraud efforts by the
Medicare Fraud Strike Force, a joint effort by the Justice Department and
Department of Health and Human Services. While that number sounds encouraging, law-enforcement officials estimate that fraud accounts for 10%
of Medicare’s yearly spending — or $58 billion for the 2013 fiscal year.
2013
Total Medicare
Spending
Total Spent
on Fraud
20
15
10
5
2009
0
2014
Source: The Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2014.
The rise of minimally invasive procedures, for one, has
eliminated the need for millions of blood transfusions. This
is good news for patients, but bad news for the blood bank
business. Blood bank revenue may drop to $1.5 billion per
year in 2014, down from a high of $5 billion in 2008.
5
Largest Breach of Patient Data to Date
4.5
4.5 million
4
3.5
patient records were stolen in what has been called the largest
data breach of this type to date. Community Health Systems
reported that the information was stolen as part of a cyber attack
originating in China. The data were described as “non-medical in
nature,” and included patient names, addresses, birth dates, and
telephone and Social Security numbers.
3
2.5
2
1.5
Source: Forbes, August 18, 2014.
1
.5
0
2008
2014
Source: The New York Times, August 23, 2014.
18
ASH Clinical News
October 2014