{"id":20540,"date":"2016-02-18T11:15:15","date_gmt":"2016-02-18T19:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=20540"},"modified":"2016-02-18T12:18:17","modified_gmt":"2016-02-18T20:18:17","slug":"feds-51-hospitals-pay-23-million-resolve-false-billings-cardio-devices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=20540","title":{"rendered":"Feds: 51 Hospitals Pay $23 Million to Resolve False Billings for Cardio Devices"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 FLORIDA<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"Justice-Depart\"The federal government announced that 51 hospitals will pay more than $23 million related to allegations involving cardiac devices that were implanted on Medicare patients, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only patients with certain clinical characteristics and risk factors qualify for cardioverter defibrillator, or ICD under Medicare, officials said Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 51 hospitals are located in 15 states: \u00a0Click here for the listing: Hospitals<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Most of the settlements like this one are a result of whistleblowers who brought these cases to light under the False Claims Act, officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this case, a lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Florida by Leatrice Ford Richards, a cardiac nurse and Thomas Schuhmann, a health care reimbursement consultant.<\/span><\/p>\n

Richards and Schuhmann will receive more than $3.5 million from the settlements as a result of their shedding light on this medical problem, \u00a0according to federal authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

These recent settlements represent the final stage of a nationwide investigation into the practices of hundreds of hospitals improperly billing Medicare for these devices.<\/span><\/p>\n

With these additional agreements, the Justice Department\u2019s investigation has now yielded settlements with more than 500 hospitals totaling more than $280 million, federal officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese settlements demonstrate the Department\u2019s continued vigilance in pursuing hospitals and health systems that violate Medicare\u2019s national coverage rules,\u201d said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Division.\u00a0<\/strong> \u201cWe will hold accountable those who do not abide by the government\u2019s rules in order to protect the federal fisc and, more importantly, patient health.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is what a ICD does when it is implanted, according to authorities:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n