The United States Department of Justice has intervened in a whistleblower lawsuit against IPC The Hospitalist Company which employs over 2,000 physicians in 28 states. The suit alleges that the company has overbilled Medicare systematically for years.
The whistleblower Dr. Bijan Oughatiyan, a former IPC employee filed the case under the provisions of The False Claims Act which allows private citizens to sue on behalf of the Government and to collect up to 30% of what the Government recovers.
The whistleblower said that IPC knowingly submitted inflated claims for reimbursement for services provided by the doctors called hospitalists, who are most frequently trained in internal medicine and provide care only to hospital inpatients.
According to the lawsuit, IPC encouraged physicians to bill for higher, more expensive levels of service than were actually provided. The company denies wrongdoing.
Jeffrey Newman represents whistleblowers
