It is important that as a health care provider you know exactly how the procedures that you are performing on patients are being billed, what product codes are being used, and if they are being billed correctly.  There have been instances where employees who are paid based on total office production have engaged in inappropriate billing by “upcoding” whereby a simple procedure is changed for billing purposes to a more expensive procedure, resulting in what clearly is insurance fraud.  The fact that the health care provider had no knowledge with regard to the inappropriate billing is no excuse in the defense of such a claim, and can still result in sanctions from the Medical Board or Dental Board, and in many cases even criminal prosecution for felony insurance or Medicare/Medicaid fraud.  This is especially important in situations where the health care provider is working as an associate and has little or no control over the billing process.  It is extremely important that the health care provider consult with a professional to assure that their associate agreement or employment agreement contains a provision whereby the health care provider has complete access to all of the billing information in the practice and to the patient files at all times so that the health care professional can verify that billing practices are being properly performed.