WakeMed Settles Medicare Overbilling Charges With $8M

Raleigh, N.C.-based WakeMed Health & Hospitals has agreed to an $8 million settlement to resolve allegations it improperly billed Medicare for overnight care when patients had been treated and discharged within the same day, according to a Charlotte News & Observer report.

A 2007 investigation allegedly found nurses at WakeMed's Heart Center Observation Area routinely ignored physicians' classification orders for patients. As a result, the hospital allegedly received millions of dollars from Medicare for patients who were wrongly classified under inpatient status.

The investigation also found that WakeMed had the highest rate of zero-day Medicare billings in the state, according to the report. Zero-day billings are charges for patients whose admissions lasted less than a day.

WakeMed President and CEO Bill Atkinson told the Charlotte News & Observer the hospital misinterpreted complicated federal Medicare guidelines, but also said he did not want to "minimize it," according to the report.

More Articles on Hospitals and Settlements:

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