A federal jury convicted a Maryland physician on five counts of healthcare fraud for submitting more than $15 million in false claims to Medicare and a commercial insurer.
Ron Elfenbein, MD, 49, of Arnold, owned First Call Medical Center and Chesapeake ERgent Care, which operated multiple drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites. He instructed employees, in addition to billing for COVID-19 tests, to bill for high-level evaluation and management visits, according to an Aug. 4 Justice Department news release. These visits were not provided to patients as represented.
Dr. Elfenbein ordered the high-level visits to be billed for all patients, including those who were asymptomatic, who were getting tested for their employment requirements and who were being tested so that they could travel, according to the release. False claims were submitted for tens of thousands of high-level visits that were ineligible for reimbursement.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 7 and faces up to 50 years in prison.