February 10, 2018

Dubuis Health System and Southern Crescent Hospital For Specialty Care Settle False Claims Allegations for $8 Million

Editor’s note: Here’s an interesting blog post from our archives that we thought was worth sharing again. The False Claims Act has enabled whistleblowers to expose fraudulent healthcare fiscal violations, while getting financial rewards for their efforts. We feel this is justice being served indeed.

The Department of Justice on July 26, 2013 announced it had resolved, under the False Claims Act, allegations of the submission of false claims to Medicare with Dubuis Health Systems and Southern Crescent Hospital for Specialty Care, Inc. (Southern Crescent).  Dubuis Health Systems manages long-term acute care hospitals in several states.  It manages hospitals for Southern Crescent.  Southern Crescent is located in Riverdale, Georgia and is part of the CHRISTUS Health System.

Long-term acute care hospitals are certified to focus on patients with complex medical needs, whose average length of stay is more than twenty-five days.  The long-term care acute hospitals receive higher reimbursement for the care provided than typical acute care hospitals.  The allegations against Dubuis Health Systems and Southern Crescent states that between 2003 and 2009, Dubuis Health Systems and Southern Crescent knowingly kept patients hospitalized for more days than was considered medically necessary in order to receive higher reimbursement from Medicare and to keep Southern Crescent classified as a long-term acute care facility.

Darlene Tucker, a former administrator at Southern Crescent,  filed the whistleblower complaint under the False Claims Act that lead to this settlement.  She will receive $2,160,000 of the United States recovery.

Learn more about whistleblower actions and Qui Tam lawsuits as handled by Berg & Androphy, by visiting our website page on the types of Qui Tam cases that are pursued under the False Claims Act, here.