SPOKANE, Wash. — The United States and the State of Washington filed a complaint against MultiCare Health System for allegedly endangering patient safety and falsely billing federal healthcare programs for spinal surgery procedures.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office -for the Eastern District of Washington, the complaint claims that former neurosurgeon, Jason Dreyer, gave false diagnoses and performed medically unnecessary surgeries.
MultiCare supposedly knew about Dr. Dreyer’s “red flags” and his issues with past medical companies yet hired him anyway.
“As alleged in the Complaint, MultiCare was aware of serious concerns that Dr. Dreyer was putting patients in danger,” said United States Attorney Vanessa Waldref. “The Complaint alleges that MultiCare nonetheless made the decision to allow him to treat and operate on patients, even after it became aware of the federal investigation. This is an egregious breach of the public trust.”
According to the press release, Dr. Dreyer generated high revenue for MultiCare in Oct. 2019 from his many surgeries.
In response, MultiCare placed him on an incentive compensation structure, meaning that the greater the number and complexity of Dr. Dreyer’s surgeries, the more money he would make.
The complaint alleges that MultiCare endangered patients through its actions and fraudulently claimed and received reimbursement for millions of dollars from federal healthcare programs between July 2019 and March 2021.
The federal health care programs are:
Medicare, which provides health coverage to elderly and disabled Americans.Washington State Medicaid, jointly administered and funded by the United States and the State of Washington, provides health coverage to low-income Washingtonians.The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (V.A.) Community Care program provides health insurance coverage for veterans for certain specialized services that cannot be performed at V.A. facilities.The TRICARE program provides health insurance coverage for active duty and retired military service members, reserves, and their families.The Federal Employee Health Benefits program provides health insurance coverage to federal civilian employees.
“Health care providers that perform medically unnecessary procedures undermine the public’s trust in the health care system and exploit taxpayer-funded programs,” stated Special Agent in Charge, Steven J. Ryan of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Working with our law enforcement partners, HHS-OIG is committed to protecting patients and the integrity of federal health care programs.”
The investigation began in Feb. 2020. In April 2022, a former patient of Dr. Dreyer’s at MultiCare joined as a whistleblower under seal in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. Over the past decade, recoveries in the Eastern District of Washington in False Claims Act cases have exceeded $400 million, the Attorney’s office said.
“I’m grateful for the close collaboration we have had with our partners at the Washington Attorney General’s Office, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Office of Personnel Management Office of Inspector General, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General,” continued U.S. Attorney Waldref. “It was that close collaboration and teamwork throughout these investigations that made the Providence and Dr. Dreyer results possible. We will continue working with our law enforcement partners to protect patient safety and to hold accountable those who put profits ahead of patient safety.”
According to the attorney’s office, the joint investigation was conducted by, “the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Seattle Field Office; the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Spokane Resident Office; the Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General, Seattle Field Office; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Seattle Field Office; and the State of Washington Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Division.”
