“Operation Rubber Stamp” Upends Expansive Healthcare Telemedicine Fraud Schemes
US Attorneys announced October 7, 2020, that at least 40 individuals from Court Districts in South Carolina and Georgia are facing federal charges for their roles in a wide-ranging telemedicine…
Read More »Intensity of COVID-19 Outbreak Continues as CT Nursing Homes Face Safety Concerns Associated with Opening to Visitors
When the COVID-19 crisis struck in March, Connecticut facilities, like most other affected facilities, closed their doors to visitors to stem the spreading of the virus. Friends and family members…
Read More »California Testing Laboratory and Owner Settle Fraudulent Medicare Billing Case for $3 Million
The CEO and founder of a California testing laboratory together with the company have agreed to pay $3,043,484 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting…
Read More »Massachusetts Nursing Home RN Pleads Guilty to Drug Diversion
A 61-year-old Massachusetts registered nurse recently pleaded guilty to drug tampering in a US District Court. She was charged in June with one count of tampering with a consumer product,…
Read More »Leadership and Staff Empowerment May Contribute to Retention of Nursing Home Staff
Maintaining staff is an ongoing and growing concern for nursing homes, but those challenges have been made even more difficult by the COVID-19 pandemic. This workforce instability is particularly troublesome…
Read More »Senate Majority Staff Report Reviews Nursing Home Performance during First 8 Months of COVID-19 Pandemic
A recent majority staff report from the Senate Finance Committee reviewed the performance of the 15,600 Medicaid and Medicare enrolled nursing facilities from across the country. The purpose of the…
Read More »Florida Radiology Center Pays $501,000 to Settle False Claims Allegations
A Florida radiology center recently agreed to settle fraud allegations made by the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) for $501,000. The allegations claimed…
Read More »COVID-19 Exacerbated Existing Understaffing Issues in Washington Nursing Homes
Poor wages, understaffing, and lower Medicaid reimbursement rates created what some describe as the preamble to the “perfect storm” that has raged after COVID-19 struck Washington nursing homes in early…
Read More »Fake Nurse Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud, Healthcare Fraud, and Identity Theft
A woman, previously convicted as a felon, was recently sentenced in a Tennessee U. S. District Court to 51 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for…
Read More »Depression and Restorative Nursing Categories May Be Key for Payments and Better Outcomes under PDPM
Almost a year after the implementation of Medicare’s Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM), the Medicare rate of reimbursement for each facility is derived from these five care components: physical therapy, occupational…
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