Rhode Island Audit Finds Compliance Gaps at All Opioid Treatment Providers
Rhode Island's Office of the Auditor General found at least one compliance problem in every one of 100 sampled Medicaid claims from the state's five opioid treatment providers, operating 14 facilities, over a two-year period from January 2023 through December 2024. The Oct. 7 report found the state's Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals did not consistently flag missing assessments, overdue treatment plan reviews, skipped counseling sessions, and missed annual medical exams despite biennial facility visits. Auditors identified 1,729 deficiencies across the sample and estimated that if the noncompliance rate held across all 274,412 opioid treatment claims submitted in that period, roughly $24.9 million in claims could be problematic. The audit did not find evidence that billed services were never delivered, only documentation and monitoring gaps, and providers were not named because the audit targeted the state agency's oversight, not the providers themselves.