Fraud Awareness Week highlights how education, innovative detection, and in-house expertise address fraud, waste, and abuse
Protecting health care dollars requires vigilance, expertise, and proactive action. At Independence Blue Cross (IBX), this comprehensive approach is helping protect members, clients, providers, and the health care system from fraud, waste, and abuse (FWA).
How IBX protects your health care dollars
- Employs expert teams. At the center of IBX’s work is its Corporate and Financial Investigations Department (CFID), a multidisciplinary team with experience and knowledge spanning investigations, pharmacy audits, support, and data analytics.
- Identifies concerns early. The team uses investigative expertise, advanced tools, and data analysis to identify suspicious patterns and billing activity to prevent, detect, and investigate potential FWA.
- Encourages anonymous reporting. IBX also provides multiple anonymous and confidential options for reporting concerns, available 24/7.
“Fraud, waste, and abuse can have a real impact on the people we serve and on the health care system as a whole. Our responsibility is not simply to respond when something looks wrong. It’s to stay vigilant, use the expertise and information available to us to identify concerning activity, and help prevent harm. Just as important, we want our members, clients, providers, and associates to understand the role they can play in recognizing and reporting potential fraud,” said Chris Deery, director of CFID at Independence Blue Cross.
Fraud Awareness Week shines a light on the human impact of fraud
In October, IBX will observe its annual Fraud Awareness Week with programming designed to increase FWA awareness and reinforce the importance of protecting the integrity and assets of the company’s members and customers.
Throughout the week, associates will have opportunities to learn from the experts behind IBX’s fraud prevention efforts, explore a real-world case study, and gain additional perspective on the human impact of fraud through a special screening of the documentary “Shuffle.”
- IBX case study. IBX’s vigilance is evident in a recently finalized federal case involving suspicious pharmacy activity. Between June 2019 and March 2022, a pharmacy owner and a pharmacy technician participated in activity involving medically unnecessary prescriptions for expensive brand-name drugs.
After IBX began questioning pharmacy claims, a deeper investigation ensued resulting in a referral to the FBI, criminal charges, guilty pleas, prison sentences, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution. The case reinforces the critical role associate in-house expertise plays in helping identify and report suspicious activity.
- Documentary screening. “Shuffle” follows six individuals navigating the addiction treatment system and examines how insurance fraud can exploit vulnerable patients and perpetuate cycles of treatment rather than recovery. The documentary received the 2025 SXSW Film Festival Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Ongoing efforts to protect patients and taxpayers
Health care fraud continues to be a growing concern nationwide and especially in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia region has been designated as one of nine Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) locations by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General. These HEAT locations receive enhanced fraud-detection scrutiny, data analytics monitoring, and coordinated enforcement attention from the federal authorities that CFID routinely refers suspected fraud to.
To address the growing complexity of these challenges, IBX has invested heavily in advanced analytics, provider monitoring, and clinical validation strategies aimed at identifying suspicious activity sooner and more effectively. Earlier in 2026, Deery testified before the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means about IBX’s work to protect patients and taxpayers from Medicare fraud.
To report suspected fraud and abuse to IBX:
- Telephone: Call IBX’s confidential Fraud Hotline at 1-866-282-2707 (TTY: 888-789-0429). 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Online: Complete and submit the IBX Online Fraud Report Form.
- Mail or Fax: Write a description of your complaint, enclose copies of any supporting documentation, and mail it to:
Independence Blue CrossCorporate and Financial Investigations Department
1901 Market Street, 42nd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-238-2287
Media Contact:
Kathleen Conlon
215-241-8057
Kathleen.Conlon@ibx.com
