South St. Louis Orthopedic Group Pays $200,000 to Settle Fraud Charges

South St. Louis (Mo.) Orthopedic Group has agreed to pay $200,000 to settle Medicaid and Medicare fraud charges related to services provided by a podiatrist at the clinic, according to a report in the St. Louis Business Journal.

In March 2009, the group and the podiatrist pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud related to claims submitted to Medicare and Missouri Medicaid from 1998-2005, according to the report. According to the charges, the podiatrist falsified treatment notes in order to have claims for non-covered services covered by the federal and state health insurers.

The podiatrist was sentenced to three months in prison, and South St. Louis Orthopedic was placed on probation for two years, according to the report. The group and the podiatrist were also order to jointly pay more than $89,000 in restitution to Medicare and Missouri Medicaid.

The civil settlement included charges that allege that South St. Louis Orthopedic caused the false claims submitted to the insurers and that the group received a portion of the profits received by the podiatrist in submitting these claims, according to the report.

Read the Business Journal's report about South St. Louis Orthopedic Group.

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