Home Health & Hospice Week
Doc House Call Execs Charged With HHA-Related Fraud
The CEO and a staff physician for a physician housecall company have been arrested and are facing fraud charges that are in part related to home care services.
Physicians employed by Chicago-based Mobile Doctors falsely certified patients for home care in return for referrals for their own housecall services, the Department of Justice alleges in a release. From August 2010 through July 2013, more than 200 home health agencies submitted Medicare claims for patients for whom Dr. Banio Koroma was identified as the referring physician. These home health agencies were paid more than $10 million for the claims.
Between January 2006 and March 2013, Mobile Doctors physicians certified or recertified for home care nearly 15,600 patients a total of about 83,100 times, "many of which were allegedly false," the DOJ says. More than 6,000 of these certifications were attributed since August 2007 to Koroma, with Mobile Doctors billing Medicare for nearly 17,500 patient visits he made during that time, "more than any other Mobile Doctors physician."
CEO Dike Ajiri also faces charges for upcoding housecall visits and for kickbacks related to the Mobile Doctors physicians ordering imaging tests from an ultrasound company Ajiri had an ownership interest in, according to prosecutors.
Home Health & Hospice Week
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