Officials at Cincinnati-based Mercy Health are confident a jury will reject a whistle-blower's allegations of a kickback scheme and fraudulent government billing, according to a Cincinnati Business Journal report.
The case, unsealed last week, alleges Mercy officials colluded with radiologists at Millennium Radiology in Westlake, Ohio to increase usage of hospital-based radiology services and then submit improper claims to Medicare and TRICARE. Whistle-blower G. Daryl Hallman, MD, claims Mercy made $52 million and Millennium made $17.5 million off the scheme, according to the report.
The federal government has declined to intervene in the case, a major factor in Mercy officials' optimism about the case's outcome.
"The government performed a thorough review of the facts of our case and apparently concluded that Dr. Hallman's allegations were not substantiated," Mercy spokeswoman Nanette Bentley said, according to the report. "We are confident that a jury will agree."
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