NCJ Number
114912
Date Published
1983
Length
174 pages
Annotation
This analysis of a case of computer-generated fraud by a Medicaid provider in Ohio concludes that organizational misconduct could be decreased by less regulation and more sensitive responses to private-sector corporations by government bureaucracies.
Abstract
The analysis details the case of Revco Drug Stores, Inc., which in 1977 was found guilty of a double-billing scheme that resulted in the loss of more than $500,000 in Medicaid funds to the Ohio Department of Public Welfare. The case is analyzed in terms of its demonstration of a changing trend in the nature of unlawful behavior, in that both victim and offender were complex organizations and the definition of who was victim and who was offender was not always clear. In addition, computer technology increased the complexity of both the commission and the investigation of unlawful conduct. Moreover, five investigative agencies were involved in pooling their specialized skills and resources to discover, investigate, and prosecute the case. The case is analyzed in terms of how social structures influence the behavior of organizations, the possible roles of complex regulations in promoting organizational misconduct, and the interorganizational relations involved in controlling it. Implications for efforts to control unlawful organizational behavior are also explored. Table, chapter notes, index, an appended discussion of organizations as research settings, and 168 references.