Psychologist Allan K. Hearne, PhD, owner of Brookhaven (Miss.) Psychiatry and Psychological Associates, was sentenced to more than six years in prison after he was convicted in June of conspiracy to defraud the United States, healthcare fraud, obstructing a federal investigation and making a false statement to the Social Security Administration, according to a report in The Daily Leader.
Dr. Hearne was also sentenced to pay over $545,000 in restitutions to Medicare. According to the Justice Department, Dr. Hearne conspired to submit false diagnoses to Medicare and billed for services on a weekly basis, when he was only seeing patients a few times a year. According to the report, he billed Medicare for over $1.5 million in false claims and received over $600,000 in government money.
Glenn Smith and Chris Thomas of Brookhaven were indicted with Dr. Hearne in Nov. 2008, according to the report. Both pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them related to the case.
Read the Daily Leader's report about the Brookhaven Psychiatry healthcare fraud sentencing.