Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert
In other news
Published on Fri Dec 21, 2012 
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Falsified plans of care got a Houston-area physician in trouble with the Department of Justice. A federal court convicted Ben Harris Echols of conspiring to commit health care fraud for submitting false claims to Medicare for home health services. Some of the claims were for Medicare beneficiaries Echols allegedly did not even treat, the DOJ states.
Echols reportedly signed plans of care for patients so that HHAs could bill fraudulent claims to Medicare. The DOJ reports that Medicare paid out approximately $17.3 million worth of false claims for home health services.
To read the DOJ press release about the conviction, visit www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/December/12-crm-1498.html.
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