Philadelphia-based physician practice Complete Physician Services and two physicians agreed to pay $1.5 million plus interest to resolve allegations they misrepresented the severity of illness to increase Medicare reimbursements, the Justice Department said in a May 24 news release.
The practice, along with Kenneth Wiseman, DO, and Steven Schmidt, DO, allegedly submitted unsupported diagnosis codes from Jan. 1, 2015, to Dec. 31, 2018. The practice submitted morbid obesity diagnosis codes while the patients had a body mass index under 35.
The government also alleges the practice's submission of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease diagnoses were not medically supported, among other false claims.
Read more about the alleged false claims here.