Home Health & Hospice Week
Whistleblower Suit Leads To $1.3 Million Settlement
Hospice owner personally liable for $200K. More evidence that the feds are cracking down on hospice patient eligibility comes in a sev-en-figure False Claims Act lawsuit settlement. Harmony Care Hospice Inc. based in Co-lumbia, S.C. and its owner/CEO Daniel Burton will pay $1.3 million to settle charges that the hospice knowingly submitted claims for ineligible hospice patients, the Department of Justice says in a release. Burton is individually liable for $200,000 of the settlement amount, the DOJ says. The patients at issue did not have a six-month prognosis, the DOJ alleges. The settlement resolves a qui tam lawsuit filed by former Harmony employees Mona Single-tary and Lynda Fulton, Justice says. The staffers will share $245,000 of the settlement. Harmony and Burton will enter into a corporate integrity agreement with the HHS Office of Inspector General, according to the release.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Survey & Certification:
Surveys More Crucial Than Ever Under Alternative Sanctions
At least CMS won't publish your survey indiscretions in your local newspaper. Get ready to [...] - Compliance:
Get To Know These New Alternative Sanctions
Payment suspension sanction gets a little less punishing. Starting next summer, surveyors may start deploying [...] - Reimbursement:
CMPs May Crush HHAs
Daily fines add up quickly. Home care providers hungry for details of how surveyors, survey [...] - Regulations:
New Sanctions Put You At Surveyors' Mercy
Experts skeptical of checks and balances. What may bother home health agencies even more than [...] - Education:
Bone Up On PPS Final Rule
You can receive vital information on the 2013 prospective payment system final rule from the [...] - Industry Note:
Whistleblower Suit Leads To $1.3 Million Settlement
Hospice owner personally liable for $200K. More evidence that the feds are cracking down on [...] - Industry Note:
OIG Highlights Home Care Fraud
The HHS Office of Inspector General's latest semiannual report is playing the agency's greatest hits [...] - Industry Note:
Data Mining-Triggered Edits On Deck
If your billing patterns make you stick out like a sore thumb, you may see [...] - Industry Note:
New Year Brings Double Duty For Hospice Quality Data Reporting
January will be a busy month for hospices, quality reporting-wise. The hospice quality reporting program [...] - Industry Note:
Beware LUPA Glitch For High Therapy Episodes
If you want to receive the roughly $95 you're owed for a LUPA add-on amount [...] - Industry Note:
Benchmark Yourself Against MAC's LOS Data
Want to see where you stack up against your peers when it comes to non-cancer [...] - Industry Note:
Use Post-Discharge Study To Sway Hospitals
Looking for a way to convince hospitals that they should partner with you to reduce [...] - Industry Note:
Access Palliative Care Tool
If you're seeking educational materials to introduce the concept of palliative care to your patients, [...] - Industry Note:
Nurse Sentenced For Home Care Fraud In Detroit
A home care nurse defendant has drawn a two-and-a-half-year prison term in the $13.8 million [...]
