Health Minister Lord Hunt has announced a partnership between the NHS Counter Fraud Service (NHS CFS) and business intelligence software company SAS in a move designed to provide a much greater capacity to target fraud in the NHS.
The value, duration and terms of the partnership deal between NHS CFS and SAS were not disclosed by the Department of Health.
Under the new partnership SAS and the NHS CFS will develop software that examines NHS CFS data on pharmaceutical, dental and optical fraud. The software will use advanced data analysis and visualisation techniques to predict where fraud in the NHS is most likely to occur.
Lord Hunt said: "We shall be using the most sophisticated technology to target those who would deprive the NHS of the resources it needs for patient care.” He added that the intention was to learn from every example of fraud and continuously improve the NHS’s ability to detect and stop it.
According to official figures the NHS has achieved an estimated £61 million reduction in patient fraud against the NHS since 1999. Overall the NHS has seen estimated reductions in pharmaceutical patient fraud of 41%, in dental patient fraud of 25% and in optical patient fraud of 23%
Jim Gee, Director of the NHS CFS, added: "This is a ground breaking agreement involving partnership between our own specialist counter fraud organisation and market leaders in business intelligence software. Very shortly we will have in place a fraud detection system worthy of the NHS in the 21st Century."
Phil Bond, CEO of SAS said: “"We are pleased to be playing our part in protecting the NHS’s resources from fraud so that they can be spent on patient care.” SAS is a market leader in providing business intelligence software and services.
The NHS CFS was created by the government in 1998. It works with and supports more than 400 professionally trained and accredited Local Counter Fraud Specialists now in place covering health bodies.
The NHS CFS has Counter Fraud Charter agreements to work with all the professional representative associations, including the BMA, BDA, RCN; all the NHS regulatory bodies; and with more than 110 patient organisations.
In January 2003, the Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (CFSMS) was established as a Special Health Authority. This new agency will have responsibility for all counter fraud work and security management within the NHS.