Stefanie Hirsch, 51, of Los Angeles, Calif., was sentenced to three years’ probation for her role in a multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud scheme. Hirsch was also ordered to pay a fine of $2,500. On Feb. 24, 2021, Hirsch pleaded guilty to violating the HIPAA statute. Hirsch sold access to a Medicare eligibility tool that allowed Juan C. Perez Buitrago and Nathan LaParl to improperly access patients’ detailed personal, demographic, medical and insurance information. Hirsch owned EI Medical, Inc., a Medicare-enrolled wheelchair and scooter repair company that qualified for access to a healthcare clearinghouse that contains Medicare patients’ personal, medical and insurance information. Hirsch improperly gave Perez Buitrago and LaParl access to that clearinghouse and charged them about $0.25 per patient eligibility check. Using Hirsch’s credentials, LaParl accessed the personal and medical data of more than 350,000 patients and Perez Buitrago’s credentials were used for 150,000 patients. Perez Buitrago and LaParl pleaded guilty to federal healthcare crimes in October 2020 and January 2021, respectively.
