Austin Texas Legal Issues Blog

Physician practices need to navigate the needs of a successful business while ensuring quality patient care. The old adage "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" can go a long way towards helping build a successful practice. A failure to take patient complaints seriously could result in an official complaint - possibly even leading to an investigation by the state licensing board. When it comes to patient complaints the best approach may be to know the common issues and take proactive steps to avoid falling into the same traps.

The Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's Criminal Division recently announced a "historic nationwide enforcement action" that resulted in criminal charges for over 100 doctors, nurses and other medical professionals. The charges are the result of allegations the professionals submitted over $6 billion in false and fraudulent claims.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will begin accepting applications for Relief through this package October 5th. The agency has stated the goal is to help cover approximately 2% of patient revenue lost as a result of the pandemic.

The HHS is encouraging providers to file for relief early, so it can begin reviewing payment calculations and “ultimately accelerate the distribution” of payments.

Government officials have accused a Texas pharmacy owner of filing more than $5 million in fraudulent claims to several healthcare programs. The entrepreneur owned multiple pharmacies in Southern Texas, most notably in the Houston and Pharr areas. A government investigation has allegedly led to evidence that he and others used these healthcare facilities to file fraudulent reimbursement claims.