Corporate Whistleblower Center Urges MD's to Call Them if They Have Proof a Hospital Is Overbilling Medicare for Unwarranted Procedures-Because of a Recent Huge Rewa
(PRWEB) November 17, 2014 -- The Corporate Whistleblower Center is calling attention to a major recent settlement involving a hospital chain that was allegedly involved in overbilling Medicare, and a multi million dollar reward that went along with this settlement as a very big deal for potential healthcare whistleblowers.
The Center says, "This settlement should be a wakeup call to medical doctors, or hospital insiders who may have information a hospital has engaged in admitting patients who should have been sent home, or hospitals that engaged in allowing patients to have unwarranted medical procedures, and or hospitals that upcode Medicare bills. We are convinced these type of practices put patients at risk, and in addition these types of uncalled for practices cost the taxpayers billions of dollars each year. The good news is a whistleblower with this type of information could get rich.
"If you are a medical doctor, or a hospital insider and you have well documented proof of a hospital is involved in promoting unwarranted procedures please call us at 866-714-6466 so that we can carefully explain the federal whistleblower program to you. In addition we are offering to help package your information, and provided the proof is sufficient we will almost instantly get you to the nation's top whistleblower attorneys." http://CorporateWhistleblowerCenter.Com
As a recent example of what the Corporate Whistleblower Center is talking about, Dignity Health has agreed to pay the United States $37 million to settle allegations that 13 of its hospitals in California, Nevada and Arizona knowingly submitted false claims to Medicare and TRICARE by admitting patients who could have been treated on a less costly, outpatient basis. Dignity, formerly known as Catholic Healthcare West, is based in San Francisco and is one of the five largest hospital systems in the nation with 39 hospitals in three states.
The settlement resolves allegations that 13 Dignity Health hospitals allegedly knowingly overcharged Medicare and TRICARE, part of the military health care program, for inpatient services for patients who should have been treated on a less costly, outpatient basis. Because hospitals generally receive significantly higher payments from federal health care programs for inpatient admissions as opposed to outpatient treatment, the admission of numerous patients who do not need inpatient care, as alleged here, can result in substantial financial harm to federal health care programs.
The United States alleged that from 2006 through 2010, 13 Dignity hospitals billed Medicare and TRICARE for inpatient care for certain patients who underwent elective cardiovascular procedures (e.g., stets, pacemakers) in scheduled surgeries when the claims should have been billed as outpatient surgeries. In addition, the government alleged that from 2000 through 2008, four of the hospitals billed Medicare for beneficiaries undergoing elective kyphoplasty procedures, which are minimally-invasive and performed to treat certain spinal compression fractures that should have been billed as less costly outpatient procedures.
Lastly, the government alleged that from 2006 through 2010, 13 hospitals admitted patients for certain common medical diagnoses where admission as an inpatient was medically unnecessary and appropriate care could have been provided in a less costly outpatient or observation setting.
In this instance the whistleblower will receive approximately $6.25 million dollars.
Simple rules for a whistleblower from the Corporate Whistleblower Center:
- Do not go to the news media with your whistleblower information. Public revelation of a whistleblower’s information could destroy any prospect for a reward.
- Do not go to the government first, if you are a major whistleblower. The Corporate Whistleblower Center says, “Major whistleblowers frequently go to the federal government thinking they will help. It’s a huge mistake. Frequently, government officials could care less or they are incompetent.”
- Do not try to force a government contractor or corporation to come clean to the government about their wrongdoing. The Corporate Whistleblower Center says, “Fraud is so rampant among federal contractors that any suggestion of exposure might result in an instant job termination or harassment of the whistleblower. We say, come to us first, tell us what type of information you have, and if we think its sufficient, we will help you find the right law firms to assist in advancing your information.”
The Corporate Whistleblower Center wants to emphasize there are high quality Medicare fraud whistleblowers in every state including California, New York, Florida, Texas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Washington, and Alaska.
Any type of insider or employee who possesses significant proof of their employer or a government contractor fleecing the federal government is encouraged to contact the Corporate Whistleblower Center at 866-714-6466, or they can contact the group via their web site at: http://CorporateWhistleBlowerCenter.Com
For attribution please refer to the October 30th 2014 United States Department of Justice press release on this matter. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/dignity-health-agrees-pay-37-million-settle-false-claims-act-allegations
Case Number: The case is captioned United States ex rel. Hawkins v. Catholic Healthcare West, et al., CV C 09-5604 JCS.
M Thomas Martin, America's Watchdog 6, http://CorporateWhistleblowerCenter.Com, +1 (866) 714-6466, [email protected]
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