The chief financial officer of Rockport Physical Medicine PA, Stacy Hawkins, 54, has agreed to pay $273,000 to resolve allegations she falsely billed Medicare for the use of acupuncture devices. From Sep. 1, 2016, to Dec. 27, 2018, the company billed Medicare for the implantation of neurostimulator electrodes. Medicare pays thousands of dollars for this surgical procedure that requires the use of an operating room. However, Hawkins and the clinic’s staff did not perform surgery. Instead, patients received devices used for electro-acupuncture. This involves inserting needles into patients’ ears with the neurostimulator taped behind them with an adhesive. Medicare does not reimburse for electro-acupuncture devices as implantable neurostimulators.
