A Florida man admitted his role in a durable medical equipment kickback scheme, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. Patrick Fitchner, 51, of Orlando, Florida, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court: Fitchner and his conspirators solicited and received kickbacks and bribes in exchange for providing durable medical equipment (DME) companies with completed doctors’ orders for medically unnecessary DME, such as orthotic braces. Fitchner and his conspirators utilized the service of telemedicine companies to obtain these prescriptions for DME, and the DME orders were subsequently fraudulently billed to Medicare and other healthcare benefit programs. Fitchner and his conspirators were paid approximately $2.1 million in kickbacks for these DME orders and caused losses to Medicare and other healthcare benefit programs of at least $3.6 million.
