That’s where medical canvassing and social media canvassing can help. When done right, these investigative tools go beyond simply collecting data—they provide strategic, case-specific intelligence that can directly influence the direction of a claim.
Medical Canvassing: Beyond the Basics
Medical canvassing involves contacting medical facilities within a specified radius to gather comprehensive information about a claimant’s medical treatment history. But medical canvassing is more than calling a list of providers and checking boxes. At its best, it’s a targeted investigation designed to uncover undisclosed treatments, providers, and patterns of care that may be relevant to the claim.
A well-executed medical canvass can:
- Identify treatment inconsistent with the claimed injury
- Reveal medical visits to providers not listed in the claim
- Uncover patterns of care, such as repeat visits to pain management or imaging facilities
- Flag potential fraud indicators, such as treatment at high-risk or historically problematic providers
- Verify previously disclosed medical treatment
The ability of medical canvassing to uncover both previously disclosed and unknown treatment information provides a more complete picture of the claimant’s medical history. For adjusters and SIU teams, that means less guesswork and more targeted next steps.
Social Media Canvassing: Insight from Social Media Accounts
In today’s connected world, nearly every claimant leaves a digital footprint—sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. Social media canvassing involves the search of the claimant’s social media accounts across various platforms to collect digital evidence. This process includes searching publicly available online content to find posts, photos, videos, or activity that could confirm or contradict the claim.
Effective social media canvassing goes beyond a quick Facebook search. Investigators conduct an in-depth search using search and capture tools, automated computer programs, and human intelligence as part of a data-driven strategy that combines various consumer data resources to verify social media accounts and authenticate digital information. They scan multiple platforms, forums, blogs, and niche communities to piece together a more complete picture. The real value comes from analysis—understanding the context of a post, its relevance to the claim, and how it fits with other known facts.
Examples of actionable intelligence from social canvassing include:
- Photos or videos showing physical activity inconsistent with reported injuries
- Posts revealing undisclosed employment or side income
- Social connections to known fraud rings or past suspicious claims
- Time-stamped activity that conflicts with alleged injury dates or limitations
A secure process is essential to prevent potential manipulation and unintended data conversions, ensuring that all captures of digital information are preserved as legally defensible products and comprehensive solutions.
When integrated into a broader investigative strategy, social canvassing can be a decisive factor in determining claim validity.
Turning Data into Decisions
In an environment where time, accuracy, and compliance matter, these services don’t just inform your strategy—they can help shape it. With the right investigative partner, you can transform the data points collected during canvassing into a clear, actionable path forward.
Here’s how we do it at INTERTEL:
- All our reports offer easy-to-understand visualizations of key data points, including highlights of potential red-flag behavior.
- Medical canvassing reports identify pertinent facilities that match the requested type and scope.
- Treatment timeline reports give investigators an easy to read, chronological report from the first date of service captured by medical canvass, to the last.
- Social media canvassing reports outline the most prominent social media profiles of your subject.
- A review of social media cavass findings by a licensed professional is available upon request.
Because in claims investigation, information is everywhere—but actionable intelligence is everything. Learn more about INTERTEL’s medical canvassing and social media canvassing.
