Charlene Sonda, RN, NP, worked for G.L.P., an Ohio-based company that would solicit high-rise building managers and others to provide the names of primarily elderly individuals in order to solicit medical services.
Ms. Sonda was given a list of patients to solicit medical services, using telephone cards and samples of prescription drugs such as Crestor, Viagra and diabetic drugs to assist in the solicitation. G.L.P. instructed Ms. Sonda to improperly bill Medicare, Medicaid and other companies for services that were medically unnecessary.
Ms. Sonda used the highest paying code for home visits, sometimes billing the same patient multiple times under the code. In some cases, she paid a patient $60 to refer 10 more individuals to her in efforts to maintain her employer’s mandated quota of patient solicitations.
Read the U.S. Attorney’s news release about Charlene Sonda’s healthcare fraud charge.
Read other coverage about healthcare fraud in Ohio:
– Former Ohio Physician Indicted for Healthcare Fraud and Theft
– Ohio Used Medical Equipment Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Scheme to Defraud Hospitals
– Four Arrested in Ohio Healthcare Fraud Scheme
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