RICHLAND, Wash.-A former Richland physician and a health care staffing company have agreed to a settlement in a telemedicine scheme.
William Edward Salko, D.O., formerly of Richland, and Jackson & Coker LocumTenens, LLC have agreed to pay $700,000 to resolve allegations that they billed Medicare for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME) and diagnostic laboratory testing.
“Physicians and health care staffing cannot ignore red flags about whether they are engaged in a Medicare fraud scheme,” said United States Attorney Vanessa Waldref.
In order for DME and genetic laboratory testing to be covered under Medicare, the DME or laboratory test must be ordered by a physician who is treating the beneficiary for a specific medical problem, and must be used as part of the course of treatment for that specific medical problem.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington, between April and September 2021, Dr. Salko was retained through JCLT to provide contracted telemedicine services to target and contact Medicare beneficiaries, and to speak with them about obtaining DME or laboratory testing at no cost to the beneficiaries.
The telemarketers obtained personal information from the beneficiary and used it to generate a physician order for the DME or laboratory test, and supporting documentation that made it appear as though the physician was treating the beneficiary for a specific medical problem.
According to court documents, the telemarketing company provided the physician order and supporting documentation electronically to Dr. Salko, who then electronically signed the orders, after which they were billed to Medicare.
JCLT paid Dr. Salko, for each order that he reviewed, however, Dr. Salko was not actually treating any of the beneficiaries for whom he placed the orders.
“This settlement is a signal to physicians that they will be held accountable for participating in health care fraud schemes,” said Attorney Waldref.
