Patent ID: 7421399

Claim:
A method of discouraging healthcare fraud comprising: causing a patient to provide a biometric signature on a date and at a location where the health care service is provided; capturing said biometric signature; creating a record that records said patient was at said location at a particular time and/or date, said record comprising a patient identifier, said biometric signature, location information indicating said particular location at which said biometric signature is obtained; storing said record in a computerized data store, wherein said record corresponds to reimbursement information and said location information in said record provides evidence that a particular patient was at a suitable location for providing said healthcare services; providing an interface to said computerized data store wherein said interface receives said reimbursement information and determines whether a record in said computerized data store matches said reimbursement information; determining whether said record corresponds to said reimbursement information wherein the absence of a positive match indicates a phantom bill; indicating to a payer entity whether said particular patient was at a suitable location for providing said healthcare services based on said determination.