Three dozen defendants across the U.S. were charged this week for more than $1.2 billion in alleged fraud involving telehealth, phony genetic testing and durable medical equipment, Healthcare IT News reports.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced the coordinated law enforcement action, which includes criminal charges against executives from virtual care vendors, owners of clinical laboratories and makers of durable medical equipment, among others.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Center for Program Integrity also announced that it has taken administrative actions against more than 50 healthcare providers alleged to be involved in similar schemes.
The coordinated investigations primarily targeted the alleged payment of kickbacks and bribes by lab operators in exchange for the referral of patients by medical professionals working with allegedly fraudulent telemedicine and digital health companies.
Some of the defendants are said by the DOJ to operate a telemarketing network that lured elderly and disabled patients into a criminal scheme; marketers allegedly had telemarketers use deceptive techniques to induce Medicare beneficiaries to agree to cardiovascular genetic testing, and other genetic testing and equipment. Read more.
