To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to misuse; to put to a bad use; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert; as, to abuse inherited gold; to make an excessive use of; as, to abuse one's authority.

Improper treatment or use; application to a wrong or bad purpose; misuse; as, an abuse of our natural powers; an abuse of civil rights, or of privileges or advantages; an abuse of language.

When used as a legal term in healthcare, it normally refers to actions that do not involve intentional misrepresentations in billing but which, nevertheless, result in improper conduct. Consequences can result in civil liability and administrative sanctions. An example of abuse is the excessive use of medical supplies. (also see Fraud, OIG, FBI, Compliance)

Describes attempted misuse and fraudulent activity on the Network this can be Affiliate Fraud (see below) or unethical methods of promotion.

Improper use of drugs or other substances. RT "glue sniffing", solvent abuse, "solvent sniffing".

Any incident or practice of a provider, physician, supplier, or beneficiary which, although not usually considered fraudulent, is inconsistent with accepted and sound medical, business, or fiscal practices and directly or indirectly results in unnecessary costs to the Medicare program, improper reimbursement, or program reimbursement for services that fail to meet professionally recognized standards of care which are medically necessary.

improper or excessive use

change the inherent purpose or function of something; "Don't abuse the system"; "The director of the factory misused the funds intended for the health care of his workers"

a misuse of that which is legal

Improper use of, as in excessive drinking of alcohol.

A range of the following improper behaviors or billing practices including, but not limited to: Billing for a non-covered service; Misusing codes on the claim (i.e., the way the service is coded on the claim does not comply with national or local coding guidelines or is not billed as rendered); or Inappropriately allocating costs on a cost report

Improper handling.

Bad or improper treatment. Anything that causes harm to a person.

Misuse of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy remedy. This term is typically applied to Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings that should have been filed under Chapter 13, because the debtor appears to have enough disposable income to fund a Chapter 13 repayment plan.