Blessing Hospital, a 327-bed acute care hospital in Quincy, Ill., agreed to resolve allegations that it submitted false claims for heart procedures, the Department of Justice said Aug. 17.
Blessing self-disclosed that from August 2012 to 2018, a former physician was allegedly implanting unnecessary coronary arterial stents in patients. The settlement resolves allegations that Blessing received facility payments from Medicare and Medicaid for the procedures.
"The physician performing these allegedly needless procedures exploited patients and the Medicare and Medicaid programs," Curt Muller, the special agent in charge with HHS' Office of Inspector General, said in an Aug. 17 news release. "Blessing Hospital assisted in identifying the harm to the programs by disclosing these facts."
The physician, who was not identified, no longer practices in the Central District of Illinois, according to the Justice Department.