Fraud Allegations Against Urgent Care Chain Owned by Former HCA CEO Rick Scott Sent to HHS

Tags: Medicare fraud | Randy Prokes. Solantic | Rick Scott

Allegations of fraud by Solantic, a chain of Florida urgent care clinics owned in part by Florida Republican Gubernatorial Candidate and former HCA CEO Rick Scott, have been forwarded to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for possible investigation, according to a report by Naples News.

In July, former Solantic employee Randy Prokes, MD, sent a complaint to Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who also happens to be running for governor in the GOP primary, alleging Solantic billed Medicare for services performed by nurse practitioners between 2006 and 2009 as if they had been performed by physicians, according to the report.

The Attorney General claimed his campaign forwarded the allegations to the state's Agency for Health Care Administration, which has forwarded the complaint to HHS because it deals with issues of Medicare, not state Medicaid, fraud.

Solantic's CEO Karen Bowling denied the charges, adding that Dr. Prokes was fired last year for writing prescriptions for pain killers outside the clinic, which Solantic prohibits, according to the report.

Read the Naples News report on fraud allegations against Solantic.

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