While serving as medical director of several hospice companies from October 2014 to March 2016, John Thropay, MD, 74, fraudulently certified Medicare patients having terminal illnesses that the patients did not have so that he could bill Medicare for hospice services, according to a Feb. 16 news release from the Justice Department. In 2015, Dr. Thropay was listed as an attending provider for more hospice claims paid by Medicare than any other provider in the U.S.
Dr. Thropay was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and four counts of healthcare fraud, according to the release. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 28 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count.
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