Cardiac Associates, P.C. Agrees to Pay the United States Over $399,000 to Settle False Claims Act Allegations Relating to Improper Billing Practices

Baltimore, Maryland – Cardiac Associates, P.C. has agreed to pay $399,230.35 to settle claims that they submitted false claims to the United States for services not rendered.  Cardiac Associates, P.C. is a medical practice with offices located in Rockville, Olney, Laurel and Germantown, Maryland.

The settlement agreement was announced today by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur and Maureen Dixon, Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services.

According to the settlement agreement, the United States contends that from January 1, 2012 through December 21, 2016, Cardiac Associates billed for two similar procedures on the same date for the same patient, when only one of the procedures was actually performed.

Specifically, Cardiac Associates, P.C. administered tests to patients to assess the venous sufficiency in the lower extremities.  As part of this process, they performed a venous Doppler duplex examination to determine if there were blood flow issues, including deep vein thromboses, in the patient’s legs.  They billed Medicare under CPT 93970 for this work.

Billing records showed that Cardiac Associates, P.C. billed for an additional test using CPT 93965, which references an older, different technology, one that has generally been replaced by the CPT 93970 technology.  The United States contends that billing both CPT codes 93965 and 93970 was improper and led to the submission of false claims to the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only.  The settlement is not an admission of liability by Cardiac Associates, P.C., nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded. 

U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur thanked Assistant United States Attorney Allen Loucks and Investigator Steve Capobianco, who handled the case.

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