Two podiatrists and their Lehigh Valley-based medical practice agreed to pay $181,000 to settle an insurance fraud case, according to a news release from the U.S Attorney’s office.
An attorney for one of the doctors says they were misled by a third-party biller.
The news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office says Adam Teichman and Thomas Rocchio billed Medicare for treatments that weren’t covered. The podiatrists operate PA Foot & Ankle Associates, with offices in Wilson Borough, Northampton, Allentown and Carbon County.
Teichman’s attorney, Michael Khouri, said the doctors were misled by National Billing Institute, a third-party billing company. They immediately cooperated with the government when they learned there had been wrongdoing, Khouri said.
The payment and settlement do not constitute an admission of wrongdoing on the part of the doctors, according to the news release.
“We appreciate Drs. Teichman and Rocchio’s willingness to promptly negotiate a resolution in this matter,” said then-U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbitter Williams in the news release. The release announcing the settlement was issued June 16.
The doctors were accused of filing more than 7,000 claims from September 2019 through March 2021 for payment to Medicare involving application of a Sanexas device, the news release says. The applications were often billed with accompanying vitamin injections, the release says.
Sanexas is an electric stimulation device used to treat pain and other medical conditions, the release says. It consists of a large central unit and electrical leads that are temporarily affixed to the area being treated.
The U.S. government contends that Medicare did not permit reimbursement of Sanexas or vitamin injections used in conjunction with Sanexas in the way in which PA Foot administered them.
Sanexas treatment was not FDA cleared for use in combination with vitamin injections, the vitamin blend was not FDA approved, and the vitamin blend was produced in bulk, rather than prescribed for individual patients, according to the news release.
“Providers cannot blindly rely on a marketer’s advice or a medical billing service, especially when a healthcare billing scheme sounds too good to be true,” Williams said in the release. “We would encourage anyone who may have been involved in similar billing to come forward voluntarily and self-disclose the misconduct.”
Khouri said Teichman had no idea he was doing anything illegal. The lawyer represents many doctors from around the country who he says were duped by National Billing Institute.
“The government should be ashamed of itself for defaming honest healthcare providers like Dr. Teichman,” Khouri said.
A message left with National Billing Institute wasn’t immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.
Khouri said he’s pursuing litigation against National Billing Institute on behalf of many doctors who found themselves in the same predicament as Teichman. Teichman is likely to join the lawsuit, he said.
This matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General. The investigation and settlement were handled by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric S. Wolfish, Assistant U.S. Attorney and Civil Division Chief Gregory B. David, and Auditors Dawn Wiggins and Andrew Schobert.
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Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com.
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