But Roy says Medicare's getting quicker at catching fraud, in general by copying strategies used by credit card companies and even local law enforcement. Medicare now tries to analyze billing patterns, looking for suspicious spikes in usage -- for instance, if one day a provider goes from billing next to nothing for motorized wheelchairs, to, the following day, billing thousands of dollars.

Teaming up with other law enforcement groups, they're also adopting CompStat-like approaches, targeting their resources at hotspots, such as Miami, home to many seniors and a notoriously fertile ground for health care scams, and now Detroit.


"They're not making cars right now. It's a depressed area," Roy said.

Getting your money's worth

In 2011, the OIG expects to spend $345 million to support oversight of HHS programs.

But last year, Roy said the agency recovered approximately $3.2 billion, and has consistently recovered around $3 billion every year for the past five years. And there's payback: last year the OIG helped net 647 criminal convictions, mostly around health care fraud charges, he said.

"For every dollar spent on my organization, we return $5 back to the program," Roy said. "We are good for the taxpayers."

To tackle health care crimes, Roy says the OIG has about 450 federal agents fanned out over the country, who work with local law enforcement -- the rapport in the Los Angeles area is, apparently, quite close.

But he said he could use some dedicated prosecutors to pursue more cases. And of course, he needs more eyes on the lookout for fugitives -- and for that, he hopes the new website helps.

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