SPOKANE, Wash. – A Spokane physician agreed to pay nearly $100,000 to settle allegations of healthcare fraud.
Daniel Case was accused of participating in a kickback scheme by ordering medically unnecessary durable medical equipment, billed to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health care programs.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office – Eastern District of Washington, Between Oct. 2018 and April 2019, Case worked with RediDoc LLC (Redidoc).
Redidoc employed telemarketing companies to call federal healthcare program beneficiaries, including Medicare beneficiaries. Telemarketers spoke with beneficiaries about acquiring durable medical equipment at no cost.
Portions of these calls were recorded and given to physicians like Dr. Case, who reviewed the recordings and signed orders for medical equipment. The orders were then billed to federal healthcare programs, including Medicare. Physicians were also paid for each order they signed.
While employed with RediDoc, Dr. Case expressed his concern regarding the “legitimacy of what I am doing ” in an email on Nov. 14, 2018.
According to the attorney’s office, during his time at RediDoc, Case signed various orders that were not medically necessary.
“Case signed orders that resulted in Medicare payments of $3,358,221.57. During the same time, RediDoc paid Case approximately $66,727.00 for orders he signed,” the attorney’s office said.
“Kickback schemes incentivize physicians to place financial gain over patient care,” said United States Attorney Waldref. “RediDoc relied upon the willing participation of doctors around the country to sign orders prescribing equipment or medication for payment. These schemes compromise the medical decision making of physicians, resulting in the payment of public money for services that are not medically necessary for the patients, such as the braces Dr. Case ordered for patients here. This settlement is a signal to physicians that they will be held accountable for engaging in kickback schemes, and that they stand to lose more in the long run than will be gained in the short term by participating in an unlawful practice.”
Case agreed to pay $95,000 to settle the allegations against him.
The owners of RediDoc were also charged with various federal offenses in Sept. 2020. This includes conspiracy to violate the federal anti-kickback statute, based on the fact that payments to physicians were “remuneration intended to induce the physician to sign durable medical equipment orders, including orders that were not medically necessary,” according to the attorney’s office.
The owners of RediDoc both pled guilty to this conspiracy, admitting that RediDoc provided kickbacks to physicians to induce them to sign durable medical equipment orders.
