Eli's Hospice Insider

Published on Fri Aug 16, 2013 PDF

In a whistleblower lawsuit in New Hampshire, a former employee of Amedisys Inc. acquisition Beacon Hospice charges that the Concord location knowingly billed for hospice visits not covered by a physician’s order.

Before its acquisition by Amedisys, Beacon staffers used to furnish impromptu visits in nursing homes when they were hailed by other residents while visiting another patient, says former business specialist Laurie Turner in the suit, according to The Monitor newspaper in Concord. When Turner learned in Amedisys training that they couldn’t furnish visits without a prior doctor’s order, she tried to remove such visits from claims but was rebuffed by management.

When Turner complained via the Amedisys compliance hotline, she was retaliated against almost immediately, she claims. She was frozen out of office operations and fired in November 2012, she alleges.

Turner also claims Amedisys violated Fair Labor Standards Act rules and other laws, the newspaper reports.