The University of Missouri paid the federal government $2.2 million to reach an agreement about a claim that their health care program physicians committed fraud.
The University of Missouri, a public and a research university, was accused of defying the False Claims Act, by presenting claims for radiology services (such as Medicare and Medicaid) to federal programs - and affirmed that physicians have review the radiology images. As a physician who is involved with the review are paid by the Federal health care programs, according to Kansas City Star.
On Thursday, U.S. attorney for the Western District - Tammy Dickinson, stated that the federal investigation discovered the physicians did not reviewed the radiology images. And the Federal officials made an assertion of the truth that the reviews were carried out by resident physicians, STL Today reported.
The settlement compensated Medicare and other programs for charges billed by two former radiologists of the University of Missouri. And after the university made the allegations public in 2012, both physicians (Michael Richards and Kenneth Rall) immediately resigned.
Richards and Rall also are defendants in the case, which was initially filed by Alvin Galuten, who was a fellow and part-time faculty member in clinical radiology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine in 2010, based on the report of Columbia Tribune.
Based on a motion filed by federal prosecutors in March, Rall agreed to plead guilty to a health care fraud charge in federal court and give up his medical license. While negotiations over a criminal plea with Richards were still underway at the time.
During the radiology review investigation, it has been discovered that the University of Missouri is also paying back the federal government about $3 million for unrelated billing issues.
The payment corresponds to a series of the university's overpayments from 2001 to 2013, in which the health system did not satisfactorily pay the government for two specific tests and treatments.
