Mobile imaging provider must pay up after overcharging Medicare for transportation, DOJ says
The Department of Justice is ordering a Pennsylvania mobile x-ray provider to pay up after reportedly overbilling Medicare for transportation costs, officials announced Wednesday.
Harrisburg-based Physician’s Mobile X-Ray has agreed to pony up nearly $50,000 for violating the False Claims Act over a five-year period. The firm allegedly billed the federal government multiple times for the transportation of x-ray equipment when imaging services were actually delivered at the same location during the same trip.
“While Medicare will reimburse providers for a transportation component associated with mobile imaging services, that transportation component should be apportioned when more than one patient at the same location receives an x-ray during the same visit,” the DOJ noted in its announcement, adding that the company failed to do so between 2014-2019, resulting in the overages.
In a statement, U.S. Attorney David Freed said Physician’s Mobile X-Ray cooperated with officials in “reaching a resolution that is fair to the taxpayers and the business alike.” The company has also updated its internal review processes to help avoid similar overcharges in the future. Officials emphasized that the settlement agreement is not an admission of guilt.
PMX has been around since 1978, according to its website, providing mobile diagnostics in radiology and cardiology, including ultrasound and vascular care. The firm did not immediately respond to a Radiology Business request for comment Wednesday.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.