Sacramento, Calif.-based Mindpath Care Centers, along with former chief strategy officer Jeff Williams, COO Abigail Sheriff, and senior integration and project manager Sarah Williams, agreed to pay $1.9 million to resolve allegations of submitting false claims to Medicare.
What happened?
- The Justice Department alleged that from 2018 to 2020, Mindpath billed Medicare for psychotherapy and medication management services without required documentation, according to a Dec. 2 news release.
- The Justice Department said the company systematically billed for psychotherapy sessions that were not separately documented and failed to address repeated internal employee concerns about improper billing, ultimately prioritizing revenue over compliance by ignoring Medicare billing rules and “demonstrat[ing] a pattern of reckless disregard or deliberate ignorance” of legal requirements.
- The civil settlement resolves claims under the False Claims Act and stems from a whistleblower case. The allegations were not proven in court, and the defendants deny liability.
- The case was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina and the HHS’ Office of Inspector General.
