BayCare Health System in Clearwater, Fla., has agreed to pay over $10.1 million to the federal government to resolve allegations that the health system violated the False Claims Act announced the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) last week.
According to the DOJ, the settlement will be paid by several hospitals that are a part of the BayCare Health System's affiliate, Morton Plant Mease Health Care. The hospitals include Morton Plant Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital, Morton Plant North Bay Hospital, St. Anthony's Hospital, Mease Countryside Hospital and Mease Dunedin Hospital.
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The settlement resolves allegations that between 2006 and 2008, Morton Plant improperly billed certain interventional cardiac and vascular procedures as inpatient care when those services should have been billed as less costly outpatient care or as observational status, according to the DOJ.
"When hospitals attempt to boost profits with improper inpatient admissions, they squander scarce dollars from Medicare and Medicaid," said Daniel R. Levinson, inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, in a press release. "Our corporate integrity agreements hold providers accountable for preventing such abuse of government health care programs."
The settlement resolves a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by Randi Ferrare, a former director of health management services at Morton Plant Hospital. Ferrare will receive over $1.8 million as her share of the government's recovery.
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