Florida Shands Healthcare has agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Justice $26 million to settle false claims its facilities submitted to Medicare, Medicaid and other health care programs, the DOJ said Monday, according to news reports.
DOJ said, Shands knowingly billed Medicare and Medicaid for short, overnight inpatient admissions rather than less expensive outpatient or observation services.
The whistleblower lawsuit was filed in 2008, following an independent contractor’s routine audit of Shands’ billing practices between 2003 and 2008.
The six Shands facilities involved in the false claims submissions are: Shands at Jacksonville, Shands at Gainesville, Shands Alachua General Hospital, Shands at Lakeshore, Shands Starke and Shands Live Oak, according to news reports.
