Medical service providers in Texas have agreed to pay $3.1 million to resolve allegations of improper billing for imaging services.
In an April 2 news release, the Justice Department said Desert Imaging Services, In Tandem Solutions Group and Leroy Candelaria agreed to pay $693,913; Donald Burris and Vox Intus agreed to pay $325,000; and East El Paso Physician’s Medical Center, doing business as Foundation Surgical Hospital of El Paso, agreed to a consent judgment of $2,081,739.
Prosecutors alleged Desert Imaging used Foundation’s national provider identifier to submit claims for medical imaging services. This allowed Desert Imaging to obtain higher federal reimbursement, while the hospital retained 17% of claims payments for allowing the imaging services company to use its NPI, the department said.
The settlements originated from a lawsuit filed under the qui tam, or whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act.
