A hospital attorney disclosed the errors in a letter to the board that was entered into the public record earlier this week. The hospital also disclosed the errors to the HHS Office of Inspector General.
The errors were discovered and corrected in April, and an investigation and audit by a law firm “did not find any indication of intent to defraud” nor any misappropriation of funds, according to the report.
Bartlett Regional Community Relations Director Jim Strader said the hospital “basically misinterpreted what we were allowed to do,” according to the report, and the errors were reportedly related to the formatting of claims.
The total amount of the errors totaled $956,443, according to Bartlett Regional CFO Ken Brough. “So the government’s proposed multiplier would be 1.5 times that, which brings us to the $1.4 million approximate figure that we’re negotiating with them to try and settle the problem,” Mr. Brough said in the report.
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