Which statement best defines Abuse?

• A. Includes any practice that is NOT consistent with goals of providing a patient with services that are medically necessary, meet professionally required Standards, and are fairly priced
• B. Billing for non-covered services
• C. Ignoring patient preferences
• D. Keeping patient records confidential

Answer: (A)

Abuse in healthcare billing and practice means engaging in activities that do not align with providing care that is medically necessary, upholds professional standards, or is priced fairly. This framing is best because it ties abuse directly to three core criteria that determine legitimate care: medical necessity, quality standards, and fair, transparent pricing. When a practice violates these principles—such as charging for unnecessary services, misrepresenting the level of service, or billing inappropriately—it's considered abusive. The other options aren’t capturing this broad, principle-based idea: ignoring patient preferences relates to respect and consent; keeping patient records confidential concerns privacy; and billing for non-covered services can be unethical or illegal in some contexts, but by itself doesn’t define abuse in the same comprehensive way.