The president of a North Canton, Ohio-based radiology company was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $2 million in restitution to Medicare, Medicaid and two Medicaid managed care organizations for a billing fraud scheme.
Thomas O'Lear, 58, president of Portable Radiology Services, was sentenced after being convicted of billing the government payers for X-ray services his company did not provide, covering up the scheme and committing aggravated identity theft, according to a Sept. 30 Justice Department news release.
Mr.O'Lear submitted thousands of false claims for X-rays and related services between 2013 and 2017, according to the release. In 151 instances, X-ray services were purportedly provided to patients on dates after they had died.
During an audit conducted by a Medicaid managed care organization, O'Lear created false medical records, including forms for ordering X-rays and radiology reading reports, according to the release. He also reused the same X-ray image for different patients and forged signatures of his employees as well as the physician he said ordered the x-rays.
He billed Medicare, Medicaid and two managed care organizations for $3.7 million over the course of the scheme and received about $2 million, the Justice Department said.