Health system settles with DOJ regarding medically unnecessary stents
The University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) reached a settlement with the federal government and agreed to pay $845,000 to resolve allegations regarding stent procedures that two interventional cardiologists performed at Pennsylvania Hospital between 2008 and 2012.
UPHS voluntarily disclosed the allegations to the U.S. Attorney’s office and state regulators, according to a Jan. 19 news release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
After UPHS disclosed the allegations, the federal government found that the cardiologists submitted bills for services that were medically unnecessary. The cardiologists no longer work at Pennsylvania Hospital, according to the release.
The DOJ said that UPHS cooperated with the investigation, implemented a quality assurance plan for procedures performed in the Pennsylvania Hospital cardiac catheterization laboratory, notified potentially affected patients and offered them free evaluations.
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.