Performant Financial Announces Agreement with Grant Thornton to Offer Improper Payment Solutions for Governments

Performant Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: PFMT) and Grant Thornton LLP signed a joint go-to-market agreement to assist the rapidly increasing improper payment market in the Government sector. Under the terms of the agreement, both companies have agreed to combine their proprietary technology and audit expertise to enhance improper payment audit and enterprise integrity capabilities for federal and state clients.

Today, customers are challenged to implement and monitor solutions that combine an end-to-end data environment and appropriate audit expertise which can effectively identify and verify payment accuracy for products and services rendered.

Improper payments range from erroneous or duplicative payments to fraud schemes associated with products and services performed on behalf of agencies. In FY 2011 alone, improper payments in federal programs totaled approximately $115 billion, according to Paymentaccuracy.gov.

“We are excited about this partnership and the savings that we can deliver to clients near-term, and more importantly, this agreement provides a solution that our clients have been seeking in order to improve the overall fiscal integrity of their programs. Our combined capabilities provide a powerful offering of technology and audit expertise that will significantly improve the effectiveness of improper payment analysis, audit and recovery. This partnership strategically aligns with our growth strategy to pursue new opportunities in the Government improper payment market and is truly exciting for both companies,” said Lisa Im, Performant CEO.

“When I first started looking at this issue, the Federal government tallied almost $20 billion in improper payments annually,” said Robert Shea, a Principal in Grant Thornton LLP’s Global Public Sector and former head of the Federal Government’s Reducing Improper Payments Initiative. “Today, the total annual amount of Federal improper payments alone is approximately $115 billion. I’m excited to be able to offer this solution to state and federal clients for their benefit and the benefit of taxpayers at the state and Federal level.”

Headquartered in Livermore, CA, Performant Financial Corporation provides technology enabled recovery and related analytic services to help identify and recover delinquent or defaulted assets and improper payments for both government and private clients in a broad range of markets.

Headquartered in Alexandria, VA, Grant Thornton’s Global Public Sector practice is a part of Grant Thornton LLP, the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd. Grant Thornton’s Global Public Sector provides responsive and innovative financial, performance management, information technology, acquisition and human capital solutions. Our in-depth understanding of government operations and legislation and regulation offers a distinct benefit to our clients. Grant Thornton International Ltd and its member firms are not a worldwide partnership, as each member firm is a separate and distinct legal entity.