The HHS report details efforts to recover for fraud claims under the Federal False Claims Act, including convictions against physicians, hospitals, device manufacturers and drug manufacturers.
For California, the star of the report goes to this Tustin doctor and hospital. As stated by the report:
‘In December 2012, a California physician was sentenced for his role in a hospital fraud scheme to 1 year and 1 day in prison and ordered to pay $11 million in restitution. He previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to receive kickbacks. According to court documents, Tustin Hospital paid marketers to recruit patients and drive them from “Skid Row” around Los Angeles, past other hospitals, to be admitted to its facility. The physician admitted these patients and then he and the hospital billed Medicare for in-patient services, even if the services were not medically necessary. The physician admitted that many of the recruited patients had been coached to recite false symptoms, and that he falsified medical records to justify the admission of some patients. On average, he admitted approximately 60 patients per month to the hospital, even though some did not require hospitalization”