Former physician Jason Dreyer, DO, has agreed to pay nearly $1.2 million to settle allegations he performed medically unnecessary neurosurgeries, according to an April 24 news report from CBS affiliate KEPR.
According to court documents obtained by the news outlet, Dr. Dreyer was employed from 2013 to 2018 at Providence St. Mary's Medical Center in Walla Walla, Wash., which is owned by Renton, Wash.-based Providence Health & Services Washington.
Providence agreed to pay over $22 million in April 2022 to resolve allegations of fraudulently billing Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health programs for medically unnecessary procedures, the report said.
As a part of this agreement, Providence allowed Dr. Dreyer to resign without reporting him to the National Practitioner Data Bank or the Washington State Department of Health. He then went on to treat patients at Deaconess Hospital and Multicare Rockwood Clinic, both in Spokane, Wash., from May 2019 to November 2021.
This current settlement resolves allegations that Dr. Dreyer caused false and fraudulent billing to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health programs. In addition to the payment, Dr. Dreyer has agreed to be excluded from federal health programs for at least nine years before he can request reinstatement, the report said.