Recent trends in international migration of healthcare professionals and document fraud
Across the OECD* countries, nearly one‑quarter of all doctors are born abroad and close to one‑fifth are trained abroad.
Increase in population of foreign doctors and nurses over the last 10 years
Doctors were educated overseas – up from 14.5%, in the last 5 years
Is the percentage of nurses with an overseas education up 0.4% since the last 5 years
What is Migration Fraud?
WHAT IS MIGRATION FRAUD?
Migration Fraud occurs when when an applicant share false information or documents with Immigration/Licensing Authorities
WHO IS AT RISK?
Failure to undertake document screening may expose to the risks of entering of a Foriegn Professional who is not suitably qualified or experienced for the role and/or who are dishonest
COMMON TYPES OF MIGRATION FRAUD
Using a Misrepresented/Altered Document
Provide false Education and/or Work Experience Certificate
Conceal unspent criminal conviction(s)
Conceal his or her Employment history
Conceal adverse financial and/or credit history
Market Movement during the pandemic
Exacerbated demand of healthcare professionals
A shortage of health-care professional has been present at the global level for many years, and the demand for skilled health personnel was exacerbated by the current pandemic.
7 countries – United States, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Czechia – depend on foreign-born workers in the critical sector of healthcare services. According to OECD report, in the United Kingdom and the United States, 29% and 25% of Doctors are foreign-trained.
Easier licensing processes
As many of the developed countries are reliant on migrant health professionals, implemented additional policy measures to ease their entry and quick recognition of their professional qualifications
DataFlow sees a rise in applications with fraudulent documents
28% Increase in frauds from CY19 to CY20 from 1.4% to 1.8%
Top 5 countries where document forgery has been the highest
Countries*
% share of Fraud CY20
1 India
55%
2 Philippines
8%
3 Pakistan
5%
4 Egypt
4%
5 Saudi Arabia
3%
US* makes a surprise entry in the Top 10 countries where the document was issued
DataFlow observations on frauds among Doctors, Nurses and AHPs
12%
Increase in the percentage of doctors who misrepresented the documents
72%
Increase in the percentage of nurses who misrepresented the documents in the past year.
37%
DataFlow Group has reported a sharp decline of the AHP application request by 41% in 2020 from the past year. There has been a 37 per cent increase in the percentage of AHP who misrepresented the documents in the past year.
* DataFlow internal data CY20 – CY21
Our 2020 data tell us a story about professionals behaviour towards document forgery
Up to 2% of our verifications in CY20 resulted in Red Flags
2%
verification results display Red Fags
Red Flags highlights high-risk individuals who shared Misrepresented/Altered documents
96%
verification results display Green Fags
Green Flags highlights those individuals whose shared information or documents are verified as Authentic
RED FLAG BEHAVIOUR
Here’s what we found!
Employment
Upto 54% of applicants cases tagged as Discrepant are due to Employment document fraud`
- Misrepresented / Altered Document
- Never Employed
- Issuing authority is not of the scale claimed
- Issuing authority does not exist
* DataFlow internal data CY20 – CY21
Education
Upto 34% of applicants cases tagged as Discrepant are due to Education document fraud
- Qualification attained is not recognized by any authorised Governing Body
- Misrepresented / Altered Document
- Never enrolled, fake document
- Issuing Authority does not exist
Our 2020 data tell us a story about professionals behaviour towards document forgery
TOP RED FLAG BEHAVIOUR OF EMPLOYMENT FRAUD
Misrepresented/Altered Document
Never Employed
Issuing Authority is not of the Scale Claimed
Issuing Authority does not exist
A fake document procured from Issuing Authority
TOP RED FLAG BEHAVIOUR OF EDUCATION FRAUD
Misrepresented/Altered Document
Never Employed
Issuing Authority is not of the Scale Claimed
A fake document procured from Issuing Authority
* DataFlow internal data CY20 – CY21
DataFlow PSV solution mitigates the risk of hiring Fraudulent applicants
DATAFLOW RIGOROUS VERIFICATION PROCESS UNVEILS FRAUDULENT APPLICANTS
1
Deep experience – DataFlow have verified over 3mn credentials for professionals with active relationships with over 60,000 medical entities globally. DataFlow has a proven track record of verifications from over 200 countries including difficult geographies.
2
Multi layer verification – DataFlow reviews multiple information aspects prior to issuance of a verification report including validating the professional’s identity, check on the accreditation of the educational institute and the course
3
Passionate about verifications – DataFlow has no caps on the number of attempts our specialists make in order to obtain a verification, which is in contrast to verification industry norms where a limited number of attempts are made which often result in low response rates and therefore unverified credentials
4
Site visits – For non-responsive issuing authorities, DataFlow uses its presence in multiple regional hubs and its partners in a number of other countries for site visits to the concerned authority to obtain verifications in person from authorised verifiers
5
Integrity of the verification process – DataFlow does not engage with applicants at any stage in the verification process and does not share verifier information with applicants, except for certain rare cases where issuing authorities require applicants to contact them directly prior to the release of verification.
6
No Cost to the Regulator: Professionals apply for their verification directly to DataFlow on the Regulator guidance and pay the verification fees
HOW TO PREVENT IT?
Primary Source Verification is a highly reliable, accurate and rigorous background screening process used to verify credentials directly from the original issuing source. The DataFlow Group recommend below four solutions to mitigate Document Fraud Risk
