Danbury psychiatrist Dr. Anton Fry and CPC Associates Inc.. have entered into a civil settlement agreement with the federal government in which they will pay $36,704 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act, according to a news release today from Deirdre M. Daly, U.S. attorney for Connecticut.
Fry founded CPC Associates, a mental health practice.
The government alleges Fry and CPC submitted improper claims to Medicare for psychiatric services that were provided over the phone to certain Medicare beneficiaries, instead of by meeting with the beneficiaries in the office and treating them in person.
Medicare permits certain types of “telehealth” services where the patient is in a rural health professional shortage area and where the provider uses an interactive audio and video communications system that permits real-time communication between the provider and the patient, the U.S. attorney said.
However, the patients treated over the phone by Fry and CPC were not located in rural health professional shortage areas and Fry and CPC did not use interactive audio and video communications, the U.S. attorney said.
The settlement agreement covers conduct occurring from Jan. 1, 2009, through June 1, 2015.
A complaint against Fry and CPC was filed under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. The whistleblowers, Jodi Cohen, a former patient of Fry, and Medical Bill Consultants LLC, a billing company, will receive a share of the proceeds of the settlement in the amount of $6,239. The whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act provide that the whistleblower is entitled to receive a percentage of the proceeds of any judgment or settlement recovered by the government.
