The federal government sued the owner of a diagnostic testing company for allegedly submitting false claims to Medicare. The complaint also alleges a cardiologist took part in the scheme, but he was not sued.
Vijay Patel, of Parsippany, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud related to this incident on Dec. 15, 2014. Patel owns and operates Mobile Diagnostic Testing of NJ.
The civil complaint filed Dec. 6 alleged that Patel violated the False Claims Act, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey.
The complaint alleges that Patel and the cardiologist submitted claims to Medicare from August 2011 through December 2012 for diagnostic testing services that the doctor performed from December 2010 through September 2012. The cardiologist’s Medicare contractor at the time had put on pre-payment review to make sure he submitted claims within the established rules and regulations and submitted documentation supporting the billed services.
According to the complaint, the cardiologist avoided the pre-payment review when Patel submitted the doctor’s claims through Biosound Medical Services, which Patel’s brother owns. That made it look like Mobile Diagnostic and Biosound, and not the cardiologist, performed the services. When Medicare reimbursed the companies for the diagnostic testing services that the cardiologist performed, Patel and the doctor split the money.
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.