SPOKANE, Wash. — The United States and the State of Washington filed a complaint against MultiCare Health System for allegedly endangering patient safety and falsely billing federal healthcare programs for spinal surgery procedures.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office -for the Eastern District of Washington, the complaint claims that former neurosurgeon, Jason Dreyer, gave false diagnoses and performed medically unnecessary surgeries.
MultiCare supposedly knew about Dr. Dreyer's "red flags" and his issues with past medical companies yet hired him anyway.
"As alleged in the Complaint, MultiCare was aware of serious concerns that Dr. Dreyer was putting patients in danger," said United States Attorney Vanessa Waldref. "The Complaint alleges that MultiCare nonetheless made the decision to allow him to treat and operate on patients, even after it became aware of the federal investigation. This is an egregious breach of the public trust."
According to the press release, Dr. Dreyer generated high revenue for MultiCare in Oct. 2019 from his many surgeries.
In response, MultiCare placed him on an incentive compensation structure, meaning that the greater the number and complexity of Dr. Dreyer's surgeries, the more money he would make.
The complaint alleges that MultiCare endangered patients through its actions and fraudulently claimed and received reimbursement for millions of dollars from federal healthcare programs between July 2019 and March 2021.
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