A Florida physician was sentenced to five months in prison for lying to a Medicare program integrity contractor during an audit, according to the Department of Justice.
John Janick, MD, obstructed an audit of his Janick Medical Group in Port Charlotte, Fla., according to the plea agreement. Dr. Janick falsely claimed a third-party employer paid rent for the office space his wife, Lisa McLaren Janick, used, the plea agreement said. In the space, Ms. Janick improperly accessed sensitive patient data and used that data to generate referrals from Dr. Janick to her third-party employer, regardless of medical necessity.
In a related case, Ms. Janick previously pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud. She acknowledged her role in falsifying Janick Medical Group patient records to create patient referrals to her third-party employers. Ms. Janick's sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 10.
U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday also sentenced Dr. Janick to three years of supervised release after his prison sentence, and required him to pay $118,831 in restitution to Medicare.
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