Home Health & Hospice Week
Liberty Medical Misdeeds Come To Light
Lack of doc orders, documentation failures head the list. More details about the charges leveled against Woburn, MA-based PolyMedica Corp. and two of its subsidiaries, Liberty Medical Supply and Liberty Home Pharmacy, have been revealed.
PolyMedica recently announced it would pay $35 million to settle allegations that it and its Port St. Lucie, FL-based subsidiaries engaged in unspecified billing improprieties (see Eli's HCW, Vol. XIII, No. 40, p. 318).
Now the U.S. Department of Justice says the allegations involved improper billing for various diabetic and nebulizer products, according to a Dec. 2 DOJ announcement. The Liberty units violated the False Claims Act when they didn't obtain a signed doctor's order or prescription for the diabetic and nebulizer products, the government charges.
And the companies failed to properly document excessive treatment volumes, the oral and written orders for shipping these products and Medicare beneficiaries' approval to bill Medicare on their behalf, the feds claim. The settlement also calls for PolyMedica and its subsidiaries to comply with a corporate integrity agreement.
The settlement resolves the DOJ's claims in two whistleblower suits private citizens filed in 2001 against the company. But exactly how much of the settlement the whistleblowers will receive has yet to be determined, the Justice Department says.
PolyMedica admits no wrongdoing in the settlement.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Regulations:
New Expedited Review Rules Could Land HHAs In Hot Water
You may be dinged if you do and dinged if you don't on surveys. A [...] - Appeals:
Examine Your New Duties Under Expedited Review
You'll have less than a day to turn around review records. Home health agencies and [...] - Compliance:
Feds Find Out If You're Naughty Or Nice
Warning: Your business partner could be who you least expect. Durable medical equipment suppliers that [...] - Lawsuits:
Bankruptcy Not Safe Haven For Medicare Providers
HHA loses out on $127,000 repayment in recent court decision. If your home care organization [...] - Kickbacks:
No Good Gift Goes Unpunished - If It's Too Good
Feds aren't the 'pizza police,' but too much caviar could set off their alarms. If [...] - Fraud & Abuse:
Liberty Medical Misdeeds Come To Light
Lack of doc orders, documentation failures head the list. More details about the charges leveled [...] - Industry Notes:
Feds Tap HHA For Chronic Disease Management Project
10 CCIP providers named for DM project's pilot phase. Home care will have a place [...] - NOTICE OF MEDICARE PROVIDER NON-COVERAGE
OMB Approval No. xxxx-xxxx {Insert logo here} NOTICE OF MEDICARE PROVIDER NON-COVERAGE [...]
