Internal Memo Outlined Plans to Withhold Information on Medicare Overbilling by Dallas' Parkland Memorial

Written by Lindsey Dunn | August 30, 2010

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An internal memo at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas outlines the hospital's plans to withhold information from its outside auditor, Deloitte & Touche, due to concerns that any documents released to the auditor could be subject to an OIG subpoena, according to a Dallas Morning News report.

The hospital said it declined some requests for information by Deloitte but provided all necessary documentation to perform the audit, according to the report.

Federal prosecutors began investigating Dallas' University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Parkland Memorial Hospital, which is the main teaching hospital of UT Southwestern, for overbilling Medicare and Medicaid for emergency and outpatient care last year. Additionally, prosecutors are also looking into alleged false claims by the hospital for billing federal health programs services provided by faculty physicians when they were performed by unsupervised residents.

Former U.S. attorney John Ratcliffe warned in the report the government could seek criminal charges if the hospital was indeed attempting to manipulate or withhold information.

The investigation stemmed from a self-disclosure by the hospitals in 2005 that it had billed Medicare for patient observation without a physician's order or when it was not medically necessary. However, the OIG moved the case out of the self-disclosure program because the groups were unable to agree on the amount the hospital owed the government.

Read the Dallas Morning News report on Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Read more coverage on Parkland Memorial Hospital:

- Federal Investigators Continue Probe in Alleged Fraudulent Billing Charges at UT Southwestern Hospitals

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