A whistleblower lawsuit that claimed Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Erlanger Health System routinely billed for concurrent surgeries where residents completed procedures without proper supervision has come to an end, according to court records obtained by the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
In April 2021, the health system’s former chief information officer Stephen Adams, MD, and orthopedic surgeons Julie Adams, MD, and Scott Steinmann, MD, filed a lawsuit under the federal False Claims Act and Tennessee Medicaid False Claims Act. At the center of the complaint were allegations that hospital staff illegally billed for two or three surgeries performed at the same time without proper oversight by a supervising physician.
On April 15, a district judge signed off on the case’s dismissal after the parties reached an undisclosed settlement.
Erlanger has disputed the merit of claims made in the complaint since it was brought forth. News of the settlement comes several months after Erlanger asked a federal judge to rule in its favor, alleging the whistleblowers failed to prove their case. In a statement to the Chattanooga Times Free Press at the time, the health system said there had been no identified evidence to prove teaching physicians were not present during critical portions of surgeries.
Erlanger has no comment on the settlement, a spokesperson told Becker’s.
