Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

Do you think that only your physicians are liable if your practice is found guilty of healthcare fraud? The reality is that any staffers who are complicit in the fraud can go to jail.

That’s the word from an August 30 sentencing that will land a Florida office manager in prison for over five years due to her involvement in a fraud scheme that resulted in more than $63 million in Medicare and Medicaid claims.

The woman, who worked as a receptionist and office manager at a mental health facility, was aware that her company “paid illegal kickbacks to owners and operators…in exchange for patient referral information to be used to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid.”

In addition to her prison term, the woman will have to repay $17.4 million to the government as restitution. To read more about this case, visit www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/August/13-crm-981.html.