Good job
St. Helena Hospital,
part of the Adventist Health System, agreed to pay the United States $2.25
million to settle allegations that it submitted false claims to Medicare for
unnecessary cardiac procedures and unneeded inpatient admissions.
The settlement resolves
a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco, California by Kacie Carroll,
a former employee of St. Helena Hospital.
Under the qui
tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, private
citizens can to bring lawsuits on behalf of the United States and share in the
government’s recovery.
The settlement resolves
allegations that St. Helena Hospital in Napa Valley knowingly charged Medicare
for medically unnecessary angioplasty procedures from 2008 to mid 2011.
Angioplasty is used to open narrowed or blocked blood vessels that supply blood
to the heart.
The DOJ also alleged
that St. Helena Hospital unnecessarily admitted angioplasty patients who should
have been treated on a less expensive outpatient basis.
The claims resolved by
the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of
liability, the DOJ said.
The
case is United States ex rel. Carroll v. Adventist Health Systems, et
al., Case No. CV-10-4925 DMR.
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