Worcester, Mass.-based St. Vincent Hospital will pay more than $1.78 million to settle allegations it received impermissible payments from Medicare by inflating charges and failed to fully reimburse the government.
The Tenet Healthcare-owned hospital admitted that between 2018 and 2019 it increased charges for all inpatient services, including transcatheter aortic valve replacements, according to a Dec. 9 Justice Department news release shared with Becker's. The increased charges resulted in a higher number of Medicare outlier payments, including in cases where the payments were not appropriate because there were no unforeseen complications or extended patient stays that led to the high costs.
Tenet Healthcare is based in Dallas.