by Ben Vernia | February 22nd, 2010
On February 19, the Department of Justice announced that Mercy Hospital, Inc., in Springfield, Massachusetts, has agreed to pay $2.79 million to settle False Claims Act allegations that the hospital failed to provide or to document the minimum number of hours of rehabilitation therapy required by Medicare. The case resulted from the hospital’s self-disclosure to the Government.
According to the DOJ announcement:
Under Medicare, inpatient rehabilitation hospitals must provide a minimum amount of rehabilitative therapy to their patients. In June 2007, Mercy disclosed to the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General that it could not demonstrate that it had provided the required level of therapy. The settlement announced today resulted from the company’s disclosure.