A Maryland imaging center and its partner hospital have agreed to pay more than $2 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act, the Department of Justice announced Monday.
Diagnostic Imaging Associates and Doctors Community Medical Center had a long-standing pact whereby the radiology group would bill CMS using its own assigned provider number. It did so for both the professional services provided by Diagnostic Imaging Associates, along with the technical component, rendered at the hospital’s outpatient cancer screening facility.
However, the breast center was not enrolled in the two federal payment programs and should not have entered these arrangements, the DOJ said in an announcement.
“The resolution in this matter demonstrates the commitment of the United States Attorney’s Office to rigorously protect Medicare and Medicaid from those who would flout the regulations prescribed by those programs for the reimbursement of medical care,” U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron said in a statement.
Luminis Health acquired Doctors Community Medical Center in summer 2019. And its compliance department later discovered that the breast center was using the wrong provider number to bill for certain services, a spokesman said Tuesday. The Annapolis, Md., health system immediately investigated the matter, fixed the problem and self-disclosed its actions to HHS.
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