Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Holdings is facing a lawsuit alleging the for-profit hospital operator subjected patients to medically unnecessary interventional cardiology services and then submitted false claims to government payers for reimbursement, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by HCA.
The lawsuit was filed under the qui tam, or whistle-blower, provisions of the False Claims Act. Christopher Gentile, the whistle-blower in the case, was the director of professional liability claims at a wholly owned subsidiary of HCA when he filed the lawsuit.
In his lawsuit, Mr. Gentile focuses on two HCA hospitals in Florida where the alleged unnecessary procedures were performed: Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute in Fort Pierce and Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point in Hudson.
The lawsuit was filed Feb.16, 2012. The case was unsealed this month after the Department of Justice declined to intervene in the case in January.
HCA also disclosed in its SEC filing that it was notified in July 2012 that it was the subject of a federal probe aimed at determining whether interventional cardiology services provided at eight of its hospitals were medically necessary.