September 19, 2013 – On August 30th, the Department of Justice announced a $451,428 settlement of two healthcare fraud billing lawsuits against Wahiawa General Hospital (“WGH”) of Honolulu, Hawaii. According to the settlement, WGH will pay $451,428.00 to resolve allegations that it improperly billed the Medicare program, the State of Hawaii Medicaid program, and TRICARE, the federal health benefits program for military dependents.
In particular, the suits alleged, among other claims, that the hospital violated the False Claims Act during the time period from April 1, 2008, through March 31, 2011, because resident doctors participating in WGH’s Family Practice Residency Program failed to properly document the required supervision of teaching faculty.
The lawsuits were originally filed by whistleblowers under the Federal False Claims Act and Hawaii’s State False Claims Act. The whistleblower was a doctor who worked in an out-patient clinic operated by WGH. According to the DOJ’s press release, “The doctor alleged that WGH had submitted bills to Medicare and Medicaid programs for services provided by resident doctors without the level of supervision required by federal law. The federal and state governments initiated an investigation based upon the doctor’s allegations.”
If you have information regarding healthcare fraud of any kind, including improper billing or documentation based on the failure to properly supervise, contact the whistleblower attorneys at Levy Konigsberg LLP for a free, confidential consultation.