Meaningful use/False Claims settlement by orthopedic group – Improper coding can get you in serious trouble

United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announced that Southeast Orthopedic Specialists (SOS), a Jacksonville, Florida-based orthopedic medical group, has agreed to pay the government $4.488 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act.

The United States contends that it has certain civil claims against SOS arising from SOS billing federal healthcare programs for services that were not medically necessary and reasonable. Specifically, the United States contends that SOS sought reimbursement for millions of dollars of healthcare claims that were questionable. The United States alleges that these questionable bills include:

1. SOS certified that it met certain standards related to the “meaningful use” of electronic health records when the practice had, in fact, not met those standards;
2. SOS knowingly billed for certain claims as “incident to” physician supervision when no physician was present or there was no verification of any physician being present;
3. SOS knowingly billed for certain claims using Modifier 25 signifying that a separate evaluation and management service was performed even when there was no such separate service;
4. SOS knowingly billed for certain claims using Modifier 59 signifying that two procedures, rather than one, were billable even when these procedures should have more appropriately been billed as one such procedure;
5. SOS knowingly scheduled patients’ follow-up operative visits from 12 weeks following surgery to 14 weeks in an effort to bill for a separate visit outside the normal Medicare 90 days Diagnosis-Related Group charge;
6.  SOS knowingly used and billed for ultrasound-guided injections routinely even in the absence of medical necessity; and
7. SOS knowingly billed for certain physical therapy claims using Modifier KX so as to exceed the Medicare cap on physical therapy, despite the absence of medical necessity.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/united-states-settles-false-claims-act-allegations-against-orthopedic-surgery-practice