Dr. Naushad, of Town and Country, Mo., and his wife own and operate six pain management clinics called Advanced Pain Centers. The government alleged Dr. Naushad, his wife, the pain centers and their billing company, Ultimate Practice Solutions, submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE. They allegedly submitted claims for spinal decompression services indicating that one-on-one physical therapy had been performed, when no one at the pain centers performed physical therapy, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office press release. PT codes were used to try to obtain reimbursement for use of a DRX-9000 machine, which is experimental and not covered by Medicare or the other government programs.
As part of the settlement, Dr. Naushad and the clinics have also agreed to an integrity agreement with the OIG that requires implementation of a compliance program and allows HHS to monitor the clinics’ federal healthcare billings. Azeem Meo, the owner of the billing company, Ultimate Practice Solutions, will be excluded from federal healthcare programs for five years, under terms of the agreement.
As part of the civil settlement, a whistleblower lawsuit filed by two former employees of APC will be dismissed. The whistleblowers will receive $131,200 of the settlement.
Read the U.S. Attorney’s press release on Advanced Pain Centers’ Medicare fraud settlement.
