Jun. 22—ATLANTA — A statewide chain of urgent care medical centers with locations in South Georgia has denied wrongdoing but agreed to pay more than $1.6 million to settle allegations of false medical claims to Medicare, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Peachtree Immediate Care FP, LLC, and its parent group, CRH Healthcare, LLC, that says the company disagrees with allegations made by the DOJ, had been accused in lawsuits by former employees of sending improperly "upcoded" claims to Medicare for testing and treating patients suspected of exposure to COVID-19 during the pandemic, the justice department said in a statement Tuesday.
"Upcoding" is when a health care provider submits codes for more severe conditions than diagnosed in order to get higher reimbursement, the National Library of Medicine said.
Peachtree Immediate Care has more than 60 locations across Georgia, including in Valdosta and Tifton, the company's website said.
The lawsuits had been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia; the bulk of Peachtree Immediate Care's locations are in the Atlanta area.
Under the False Claims Act, citizens may bring suit for false claims on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery obtained by the government. The whistleblowers will share in $320,000 from the settlement in this matter, the justice department said.
When asked for a comment, CRH Healthcare offered the following statement:
"We value our patients in your hometown of Valdosta and all of the communities we serve. Therefore, we are pleased to reach a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice resolving the DOJ's investigation of CRH's submission of certain COVID-19 patient visit claims to Medicare for reimbursement. This settlement, which acknowledges that CRH did not admit any wrongdoing, allows us to move forward with confidence."
The company said, "While we disagree respectfully with the DOJ's positions, we believe it is in the best interests of our business and the communities we serve to accept the offer of a settlement and put this matter — like the pandemic — behind us. We are proud of our people and of our collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic in service to our communities. We remain committed to our founding values, the Five Cs: to be convenient, courteous, caring, competent, and compliant for the patients and communities we serve."
Terry Richards is the senior reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times.