ATLANTA (Diya TV) —- An Atlanta-area urology practice and its founder have agreed to pay $14 million to resolve federal allegations of widespread healthcare fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced this week. Jitesh Patel, M.D., Advanced Urology, Inc., and affiliated companies will pay the settlement amount to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act and the Georgia False Medicaid Claims Act by billing federal healthcare programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, for a series of urological and diagnostic procedures that were not performed or were medically unnecessary.
The government’s investigation began after a former Advanced Urology employee filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that Advanced Urology performed unnecessary procedures. A former Advanced Urology physician filed a second whistleblower complaint alleging that the practice billed government healthcare programs for procedures and tests that were not performed or were medically unnecessary.
The specific practices alleged are extensive and troubling. Whistleblowers alleged that Advanced Urology’s organization was designed to maximize revenue for Dr. Patel and others by performing medically unnecessary procedures and tests, including implanting permanent Sacral Nerve Stimulator devices in patients without first determining whether the patients would benefit from the device; performing numerous unnecessary Cystoscopy and Retrograde Pyelogram...
A state announcement comes amid a congressional inquiry into Medicaid fraud but state officials said the cases are not related to federal pressure This premium article is for members. If you are on...