N.J. hospitals, health system settle improper billing claims, feds say
By Tim Darragh | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
October 30, 2015 at 4:30 PM, updated October 30, 2015 at 7:01 PM
Five New Jersey hospitals and a health system are among hundreds across the United States that settled charges they improperly billed Medicare for implanting cardiac defibrillators, the Justice Department said Friday.
Cooper Health System in Camden, Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills, Hackensack University Medical Center, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick and The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood joined more than 450 other hospitals in 70 health networks to settle the charges. Catholic Health East, which operates in several states and includes St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, St. Michael’s Medical Center in Newark and Lourdes Health System in Camden, also settled for some of the hospitals outside New Jersey in its chain.
In total, the health systems repaid the federal government more than $250 million to settle the charges, which cover operations going back years.
“While recognizing and respecting physician judgment, the department will hold accountable hospitals and health systems for procedures performed by physicians at their facilities that fail to comply with Medicare billing rules,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a news release. “We are confident that the settlements announced today will lead to increased compliance and result in significant savings to the Medicare program while protecting patient health.”
https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/10/five_nj_hospitals_settle_improper_billing_claims_f.html
Valley did something improper???