The Case for Programwide Statistical Reviews of Fraud and Abuse

This article, which appeared in the GAO Review, Vol. 17, Issue 2, Spring 1982, discusses a Migrant Education Program evaluation and points out that it is often more cost effective to have a large-scale statistical review of the programwide incidence of fraud and abuse before devoting resources to smaller scale audits on a site-by-site basis. Some evaluation objectives are to: (1) analyze a program's vulnerability to fraud and abuse; (2) identify specific incidents of fraud and abuse at selected sites; and (3) determine the programwide incidence of particular types of fraud and abuse.