Twelve surgery centers and medical offices affiliated with Interventional Pain Management Center P.C. (“IPMC”), a company owned by Dr. Amit Poonia, have agreed to pay $7,447,340.75 to resolve liability under the False Claims Act for claims submitted to federal healthcare programs for acupuncture treatment. The defendants treated patients with electro-acupuncture devices called P-Stim and NeuroStim/NSS (“NSS”). P-Stim and NSS procedures transmit electrical pulses through needles placed just under the skin on a patient’s ear. Both treatments are considered acupuncture under Medicare and Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (“FEHBP”) guidelines and are therefore ineligible for reimbursement by the government. From January 2012 through April 2017, the IPMC surgery centers and medical offices submitted claims to Medicare and FEHBP for P-Stim and NSS treatment and associated administration of anesthesia. In submitting the claims, the defendants used a billing code that mischaracterized the acupuncture treatment as a surgical implantation of a neurostimulator.
In addition to paying the civil settlement, Dr. Poonia, New Jersey Interventional Pain Management Center, PC; Advanced Interventional Pain Management Center, LLC; Global Anesthesia Group, LLC; Springfield Surgery Center, LLC; Park Avenue Surgery Center, LLC; and Endo Surgi Center of Old Bridge, LLC, have agreed to enter into an Integrity Agreement with the HHS-OIG. The Integrity Agreement requires that these entities and their owners implement specific measures intended to prevent future healthcare fraud and address evolving compliance risks. These measures include training for staff on applicable healthcare fraud laws and submitting to a claims review conducted by an Independent Review Organization to ensure compliance with Medicare billing requirements.
