Griffin Johnston, 4th period, Importance of looking at data carefully

            In an article in the New York Times, Julie Creswell and Robert Gebeloff report on the unsettling discovery of recent Medicare statistics revealing that one allegedly small Brooklyn Physical Therapist office received $4.1 million from Medicare in 2012 alone. According to this figure, as well as the 1,950 patients that the practice treated in that year, each patient would have received 94 treatments and the practice would have dealt with 183,000 treatments in a year, 500 per day, and 21 per hour. Wael Bakry, the physical therapist that ostensibly bared this massive burden of treatments, points out the fallacy evident in superficial readings of the data. He stated that his practice had, up to 2 dozen physical therapists working at one time as well as having three different locations for his practice (taking much of the burden off of himself). Also, though physical therapy might seem to be an unusual recipient of Medicare aid, the article underscores the fact that the baby boom generation is reaching their elderly years and the demand for physical therapy is increasing. Also, the large amounts of treatments for each patient can be justified by the commonality of a patient coming in multiple times to work out reoccuring pains in certain parts of his or her body. However, the suspicion towards doctors taking checks from Medicare for procedures that were never performed is rightfully held. The article cited two cases where two doctors were accused guilty of taking large sums of money from Medicare for procedures/operations they never carried out (one received 12 million while the other received 77 million in false claims).

            Having data that could potentially expose doctors scamming the government by receiving unwarranted aid from Medicare is certainly beneficial, but the data has to be interpreted appropriately. This suspicion towards Bakry, though upon closer inspection is most likely unnecessary, could have harmed his business. People saw a large sum of money that went to a supposedly small physical therapy practice and immediately became suspicious. However, if they had looked at the finer details of the matter, the reason for the 4.1 million becomes more understandable. Regardless a major problem of welfare is that people take advantage of it and get away with it. Though the big culprits are usually caught, the smaller scale scamming of the government does accumulate into a hefty sum. Welfare and Medicare are necessary in maintaining the well-being of the people, but in order for them to be more effective, either the people have to be more honorable, or the government has to be stricter.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/28/business/one-therapist-4-million-in-2012-medicare-billing.html?_r=0