Compliance News Roundup: Improper Billing, Illegal Kickbacks and Audit Chiropractor Results

1. Hospital Pays $2.85 Million to Settle Improper Billing Allegations - Eagleville Hospital, of Philadelphia, PA agreed to pay $2.85 million to settle allegations they violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims for hospital-level detoxification treatment services for ineligible patients. A whistleblower, represented by David Caputo of Youman & Caputo and Joseph Trautwein of Joseph Trautwein & Associates, will receive $500,000 of the $2.85 million recovered . Get the full scoop>>

2. U.S. Attorney in Manhattan Files Lawsuit For Illegal Kickback Scheme -The United States government filed a civil healthcare fraud lawsuit against Life Spine Inc., its CEO, and Vice President, seeking damages under the False Claims Act for paying millions in illegal kickbacks to surgeons. The suit alleges that approximately half of the company’s sales were for procedures that were performed by surgeons who received illegal kickback payments from Life Spine. Get the full scoop>>

3. Audit Results of Chiropractic Services - Between 2014 and 2015, Medicare allowed payments of approximately $1.3 billion for chiropractic services provided to Medicare beneficiaries. Yet prior OIG reviews have found Medicare inappropriately paying for chiropractic services that were either medically unnecessary, incorrectly coded, or undocumented. Given this history, the OIG performed a retrospective review of claims filed by Twin Palms Chiropractic Health Center, in Venice, Florida, which was among the top five chiropractor clinics in Florida, based on three CPT codes billed to Medicare. Read the audit results in the week’s Deeper than the Headlines >>