Six New Jersey surgery centers and medical offices affiliated with the Interventional Pain Management Center, owned by Amit Poonia, MD, have agreed to pay $7.4 million to resolve fraud allegations.
The lawsuit alleged that the ASCs and medical offices submitted claims for acupuncture procedures using a billing code that mischaracterized the treatment as a surgical implantation of a neurostimulator, according to a Jan. 12 Justice Department news release.
The facilities allegedly obtained millions of dollars from Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program between January 2012 and April 2017, according to the suit.
As part of the settlement, the defendants will enter an integrity agreement with the HHS Office of Inspector General that requires the facilities and their owners implement measures to prevent future fraud.
Here are the involved surgery centers:
- Advanced Interventional Pain Management Center (Edison, N.J.)
- Global Anesthesia Group (Edison, N.J.)
- Springfield Surgery Center (Springfield, N.J.)
- Park Avenue Surgery Center (Edison, N.J.)
- Endo Surgi Center of Old Bridge (N.J.)
- New Jersey Interventional Pain Management Center (Edison, N.J.)