Nurses are rightly getting a lot of attention lately for the courageous and essential role they are playing on the front-line during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether in hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, or as home health workers, nurses are finally “learning what they are worth,” even as private equity firms seek to profit from nurses’ increased wage-earning power. As reported by STAT, Congress is now investigating whether travel nursing agencies, controlled by private equity, are exploiting the pandemic-induced staffing crisis at many hospitals. This would not be the first time that nurses are caught in the middle between corporate entities seeking to turn a profit at the public’s—and individual patients’—expense. Nurses are frequently taken for granted, or exploited, by those who own and control large institutional providers. But one method by which nurses can fight back and protect both their own interests and those of their patients is to become a whistleblower. Many have done so already. Here are five reasons why nurses—and those with a nursing background—make great False Claims Act whistleblowers.
1. Nurses (and Whistleblowers) Are In The Room Where It Happens
Nurses work directly with patients, the intended beneficiaries of the Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE programs, and can observe whether patients are getting medically necessary and appropriate treatments billed by the institution. As such, nurses are well-positioned to know whether hospitals, nursing homes, or...
The public-disclosure bar is a defense to the False Claims Act (FCA) that prevents relators from pursuing fraud and false claims allegations that have already been publicized, unless the relator i...