A fake nurse was sentenced to 57 months in prison for health care fraud, Social Security fraud and aggravated identify fraud in connection with his use of other people’s information to get jobs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said June 12. Benjamin David Danneman of Eureka “was not a nurse, but used the name and nursing license number of an actual licensed registered nurse to obtain work in the St. Louis area at Alexian Brothers Sherbrooke Village, the Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis, and Des Peres Healthcare,” the U.S. attorney’s office said. Danneman was hired as the assistant director of nursing at the Quarters of Des Peres, earning $68,000 annually. “At these health care facilities, he was responsible for the day-to-day care of patients needing skilled nursing care. Further, according to court documents, during 2017 and 2018 in at least six states, Danneman used the names, Social Security account numbers, nursing license numbers, and other personal identifying information of several persons to rent apartments and to obtain a driver’s license, loans, credit cards, and insurance.” Visit http://bit.ly/2KhoXGP

In an audit report posted June 12, the HHS Office of Inspector General said potential abuse and neglect at skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) is not always reported and investigated. OIG audited a sample of 256 high-risk emergency room claims, including the medical records. The findings: About one in five of the claims for treatment were for potential abuse or neglect of Medicare beneficiaries who live in SNFs. “We determined that SNFs failed to report many of these incidents to the Survey Agencies in accordance with applicable Federal requirements. We also determined that several Survey Agencies failed to report some findings of substantiated abuse to local law enforcement,” OIG said. “Lastly, we determined that CMS did not require all incidents of potential abuse or neglect and related referrals made to law enforcement and other agencies to be tracked and recorded in” the ASPEN Complaint/Incident Tracking System (ACTS). OIG recommended that CMS work with survey agencies to improve reporting and tracking of potential abuse and neglect. Visit https://go.usa.gov/xmJk8

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