Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Bryn Medical Center and Basket Medical, formerly known as Apple Corporate Wellness, have agreed to pay $1,148,598 to resolve allegations that it knowingly violated the False Claims Act by improperly billing Medicare for electro-acupuncture using auricular stimulation devices.
According to an Oct. 18 Department of Justice news release, the government alleged that between June 28, 2016, and June 19, 2017, the outpatient clinic presented false claims for payment to Medicare for the placement of electro-acupuncture devices on patients.
The placement of these devices was billed under HCPCS Code L8679, a code for "implantable neurostimulator, pulse generator" devices that are surgically implanted into the central nervous system or specific peripheral nerves, typically done by a surgeon in an operating room. However, the government contends that Apple billed to Medicare using this code with the knowledge that these devices were not surgically implanted into their patients and there were no procedures performed under anesthesia or an operating room.
The devices were instead applied by "inserting needles into patients' ears and by taping the devices behind their ears with an adhesive," according to the release. It also said that "Medicare does not reimburse for electro-acupuncture devices billed as neurostimulators and did not reimburse for acupuncture during the period of the covered conduct."