Don’t turn a blind eye!Let’s shed light on fraud and corruption in the healthcare sector

Who or what is ZKG?

The Bavarian Central Office for Combating Fraud and Corruption in the Healthcare Sector (ZKG) is responsible for corruption and property crimes committed by healthcare professionals who require training regulated by the state in order to practise their profession.

The jurisdiction of ZKG covers the entire territory of Bavaria. It includes the entire investigation and criminal proceedings.

Through our work we want to contribute to securing the financial basis of the healthcare system in the long term. In 2020, more than 425 billion euro were spent in the German healthcare sector. According to a study by the University of Portsmouth, the estimated damage caused by criminal activities is 6.19 percent of healthcare expenditure. Based on this study, the financial damages would amount to approx. 26 billion euro per year in Germany.

What reports should be submitted?

Any information that may help to reveal or clarify asset-related crimes to the detriment of the healthcare sector in Bavaria may be important for our work.
You work, for example, in the healthcare sector, you are a patient or a relative of a patient and have noticed that:

• services are being charged for that
• were not actually provided,
• were not provided in full or were not provided as prescribed,
• were provided by personnel who were not (sufficiently) qualified,
• services other than those actually provided are being charged for,
• there is a lack of necessary personnel or equipment,
• kickback payments (reimbursements) are being made,
• money is being paid or other benefits are being awarded for the preferential prescription of medication and remedies or the referral of patients,
• signatures required to confirm the provision of certain services are being provided in blank in advance.

Then please submit your report!

Please note that ZKG is not responsible for medical errors (malpractice). These fall within the jurisdiction of the respective local public prosecution department.

What is the process for submitting a report? How do I set up a postbox?

To submit an anonymous or personalised report, start by clicking the “Submit report” button at the top of our introduction page.

There are 4 steps to the report process:

1. First, you will be asked to read some information on the protection of your anonymity and answer a security query.
2. On the following page, you will be asked about the category of your report.
3. On the report page, you can elaborate on your report in your own words and answer questions about the case by simply selecting responses. You can type up to 5000 characters into the free text field, which corresponds to a full A4 page. You may also submit a file of up to 5 MB to support your report. Please bear in mind that documents can contain information about the author. Following the submission of your report, you will receive a reference number to confirm that you have sent this report.
4. Please subsequently set up your own secured postbox. You will receive feedback from us via this postbox, including answers to questions and information about the progress of your report.

If you already have a secured postbox, you can access it directly via the “Login” button. Here, too, you will have to answer a security query first.

As long as you do not enter any data from which conclusions about your identify can be drawn, the technology of BKMS^® System will protect your anonymity.

Please rest assured that we are interested only in the case you are reporting. Malpractices must be revealed and financial losses prevented.

How do I receive feedback and remain anonymous at the same time?

The BKMS^® System process used here places the utmost importance on protecting the whistleblower. The system’s anonymity protection function is certified by an independent body.

When you set up your secured postbox, you choose your pseudonym/user name and password yourself. This access data is not visible to anyone except you. If you lose your login information, please submit a new report and set up a new postbox. If possible, please provide the reference number of your previous report. The new postbox will not contain any content associated with your previous report.

Your report is kept anonymous through encryption and other specialised security measures. You will never be asked for personal information if you submit a report anonymously. Do not submit any information that can be traced back to you. Please do not use any device, such as a PC or smartphone, that has been provided by your employer to submit your report.

Via the secured postbox, an examiner will give you feedback about the further processing of your report or ask you questions if some details are still unclear – you remain anonymous throughout the dialogue. We are interested in reports to avoid damage, not in you as a whistleblower.