LSU Health reaches $732K settlement after neurosurgeon fraudulently bills for supervised procedures: 5 key notes

Spine

An internal audit at LSU Health Shreveport (La.) focused on the former chairman of the neurosurgery department, accused of billing for procedures he did not perform; instead, the audit found he was the "supervising physician" while residents performed the procedures, according to KTBS.

 

Here are five things to know:

1. An anonymous complaint was lodged against the longtime chairman of LSU Health Shreveport's neurosurgery department in 2016 that sparked an investigation into his surgical practices. An internal audit showed he recorded involvement at times in three-plus simultaneous surgeries at the teaching hospital.

2. According to the report, the neurosurgeon was the supervising physician while neurosurgical residents performed the procedure. However, procedures were billed as though the neurosurgeon had performed them, in violation of the law.

3. Auditors found the neurosurgeon was involved in 374 concurrent surgery cases from November 2011 to December 2016. LSU Health self-reported the issue to the OIG and repaid money from some of the claims. The health system also decided to negotiate a settlement with the government for the fraudulent billing. In total, the health system paid $732,854 to the federal government.

4. LSU Health System demoted the neurosurgeon in October 2017, and he left the health system in June to take a role as chairman of neurosurgery at two medical schools in another state, according to the report.

5. The health system is now providing physician education to prevent a similar concurrent surgery situation from occurring again.

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