Dermatologist, John Y. Chung, MD, and his practice Skin Cancer & Cosmetic Dermatology Center, PC (“SCCDC”), which operates 13 dermatology clinics in southeast Tennessee and north Georgia, have agreed to pay $6.6 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting false claims to federal healthcare programs for Mohs Micrographic Surgeries and other dermatological procedures. This settlement resolves allegations that Dr. Chung and SCCDC knowingly submitted false claims for payment to Medicare, Medicaid, and other government payors for Mohs procedures that were billed as if both the surgery and pathology portions of the procedures were performed by Dr. Chung, when in fact at least one portion was often performed by other individuals. The settlement further resolves allegations that SCCDC regularly billed Medicare for multiple procedures, performed on the same patient on the same day, in a manner that improperly circumvented Medicare’s “multiple procedure reduction rule.” The alleged misconduct occurred from 2010 through 2020.
