Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, now part of Charlotte, N.C.-based Advocate Health, has agreed to pay $757,585 to settle claims that it overpaid for Medicare, The Center Square reported March 3.
The government alleged that between January 2015 and September 2019, Wilkesboro, N.C.-based Wilkes Medical Center submitted claims of physical therapy to Medicare that were not supported by documentation.
By settling, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is not admitting any wrongdoing.
"The government was required to investigate claims by a former employee. Although the government declined to intervene in that case, it believed it found certain medical records that did not support the services billed," Atrium told the Square. "While we disagreed with this finding, we also recognize, as a nonprofit health care provider, it is mutually beneficial to arrive at a settlement rather than to extend the process and incur additional legal costs using resources better directed towards caring for our patients."