Several individuals and medical entities have agreed to pay a total of $3.1 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act.
According to an April 2 news release from the Justice Department, East El Paso (Texas) Physicians Medical Center, doing business as Foundation Surgical Hospital of El Paso, agreed to enter a consent judgment of $2.08 million.
El Paso-based Desert Imaging Services; its CEO, Leroy Candelaria; and In Tandem Solutions Group agreed to pay $693,913 to resolve the claims. Donald Burris and Vox Intus agreed to pay $325,00 toward the settlement.
The government alleges that the settling parties took part in an illegal kickback and pass-through billing scheme in which Desert Imaging used Foundation Surgical Hospital’s National Provider Identifier to submit claims for medical imaging services for patients who had no connection with the hospital. The claims were billed as hospital outpatient services, allowing Desert Imaging to obtain a higher rate of reimbursement from federal healthcare programs. In exchange for allowing Desert Imaging to use its NPI, Foundation Surgical Hospital kept 17% of payments on the claims, the release said.
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