A whistleblower claims Wyoming Medical Center in Casper defrauded Medicare and Medicaid by tweaking patient records to collect higher reimbursements, according to a Star-Tribune report.
The federal qui tam suit was filed by a hospital worker, Gale Bryden, in 2007, but was unsealed this week. It claims the hospital’s records clerks changed patients’ admission statuses from outpatient to inpatient without physicians’ orders. The changes allegedly resulted in increased charges ranging from $35-$1,100..
The whistleblower claims that in 2006 she brought the alleged problems to top hospital administrators, including Vicki Diamond, who was COO at that time but is now WMC’s president. Ms. Diamond has said she has no recollection of meeting with Ms. Bryden about the matter.
The hospital’s attorney has denied any attempt by the hospital to defraud the government or payors and said any mistakes were inadvertent or accidental.
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