A Rockaway couple who owned a mobile diagnostic testing company in Parsippany were arrested on Monday, June 9, and charged with conspiring to commit health care fraud, allegedly by copy and pasting a physician’s signature onto many of their diagnostic reports instead of having the reports read by a specialist.
The couple, Nita K. and Kirtish N. Patel, both 51, owners and operators of Biosound Medical Services Inc. and Heart Solutions of Parsippany, were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced on Monday.
They made their initial court appearance on Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark III in Newark federal court and were each released on $100,000 unsecured bond.
According to the complaint and statements made in court:
From June 2012 through June 2014 Nita and Kirtish Patel owned and operated Biosound Medical Services and Heart Solutions, known collectively as “Biosound,” which were mobile diagnostic companies and approved Medicare providers.
The companies provided mobile diagnostic testing, including ultrasounds, echocardiograms, and nerve conduction studies.
Biosound technicians would travel to the office of a primary care physician in the New York and New Jersey area to conduct diagnostic testing. Biosound was responsible for sending the tests to a “reading physician” – an appropriate specialist who would interpret the results.
After the reading physician prepared a report, Biosound was responsible for providing it to the referring physician. Biosound would bill Medicare and other payors for the diagnostic testing, the reading physician’s interpretation of the results and the report.
According to the complaint, about half of the diagnostic reports generated by Biosound in the past two years had a photocopied signature from a reading physician when no physician had actually seen, reviewed or interpreted the results. Rather than pay compensation to a reading physician, Kirtish N. Patel allegedly would interpret the diagnostic results himself, and Nita K. Patel would, allegedly, either photocopy or electronically cut and paste a physician’s signature onto a diagnostic report that was drafted by an employee of Biosound and forwarded to the referring physician who ordered the testing.
The charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
In addition to the bond, the Patels’ travel was restricted to New Jersey unless given prior approval by pretrial services, and they must surrender their United States and India passports.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Tom O’Donnell, with the investigation leading to the charges.
Source: The Citizen
Health care fraud is perpetrated, the health care provider passes the costs along to its customers. and because of the pervasiveness of health care fraud, statistics now show that 10 cents of every dollar spent on health care goes toward paying for fraudulent health care claims.