Compliance News Roundup: Potential Abuse and Neglect at Skilled Nursing Facilities

1. Carolina Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine, Inc. To Pay $790,000 to Resolve False Billing Allegations – “United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina has resolved claims of health care fraud with Carolina Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine, Inc. (“Carolina PT”).  Carolina PT was a chain of nine physical therapy practices headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, with practice locations in Columbia, Irmo, Lexington, Sumter, and Mount Pleasant.” Get the full scoop >>

2. Pharmaceutical Company to Pay $3.5M to Resolve Allegations of Paying Kickbacks to Doctors – “U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain announced that pharmaceutical company Almirall, LLC, formerly named Aqua Pharmaceuticals, LLC (“Aqua”), will pay $3.5 million to resolve allegations that it employed illegal kickbacks to incentivize physicians to prescribe Aqua’s dermatology pharmaceutical drugs.” Get the full scoop >>

3. Deeper Than the Headlines: Potential Abuse and Neglect at Skilled Nursing Facilities - In this week’s installment of DTHs, we’re going to talk about a sad concept: Abuse and neglect. OIG’s most recent published report determined that an estimated one in five high-risk hospital ER Medicare claims for a treatment provided in the calendar year 2016 were the result of potential abuse or neglect, including injury of an unknown source, of beneficiaries residing in an SNF. Their report was one in a series of OIG reports addressing the identification, reporting, and investigation of incidents of potential abuse and neglect of vulnerable populations, including the elderly and individuals with developmental disabilities. Get the full scoop >>