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Houston physician arrested in health care fraud conspiracy

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Dr. Enyibuaku Rita Uzoaga, 41, and Charles Harris, 53, have been indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and health care fraud, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson.

The seven-count indictment was returned Feb. 12, 2014, and unsealed this morning as Uzoaga surrendered to federal authorities. She is expected to make an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge George C. Hanks Jr. at 10:00 a.m. today.

Harris, aka Celestine Nwajfor and Okechi Nwajiofor, is a fugitive and a warrant remains outstanding for his arrest. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact the FBI at 713-693-5000.

The indictment alleges that from approximately 2006 through 2010, Uzoaga, Harris and others falsely billed Medicare and Medicaid for numerous unnecessary vestibular diagnostic tests. Some patients were allegedly tested more than 1,000 times. According to the indictment, the testing was either not performed, not medically necessary and/or not performed by licensed individuals.

Harris had allegedly operated Cevine Health Care and Rehabilitation Center in the Houston area and performed the tests, according to the charges.

Vestibular diagnostic testing is used to diagnose a person for vertigo or dizziness. Upon diagnosis, patients usually undergo physical therapy, take medication or undergo surgery as treatment.

As a result of this allegedly unlawful scheme, Medicare and Medicaid were billed approximately $653,970 in submitted, fraudulent vestibular diagnostic claims, and paid approximately $389,285 on those claims. From 2006 to 2010, vestibular testing comprised approximately 25 percent of Uzoagas income from Medicare and Medicaid.

If convicted, both face up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 maximum fine on the conspiracy charge as well as the substantive counts of health care fraud.

The charges are the result of the investigative efforts of the Texas Attorney Generals Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, FBI and the United States Attorneys Office. Special Assistant United States Attorney (SAUSA) Suzanne Bradley and AUSA Kebharu Smith are prosecuting the case.

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Houston physician arrested in health care fraud conspiracy

Health-Care Tips Every Boomer Needs to Know

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With 11,000 baby boomers becoming eligible for Medicare every day, according to government projections, the number of people who can afford to access doctors and hospitals is rising significantly, adding more pressure to an already-strained health-care system.

For some 65 year olds, Medicare is their only insurance source; for others it will improve and supplement their access and coverage.

Patient advocate Ruth Fenner Barash says new and improved health care coverage is always a good thing, but warns that the U.S. health-care system is not always the benevolent safety net many people believe it to be, especially for people dealing with problems associated with aging.

"Patients and their loved ones cannot blindly turn themselves over to this massive, technology based system and trust that it will care or take care of them," says Barash, who wrote For Better or Worse: Lurching from Crisis to Crisis in Americas Medical Morass (http://forbetterorworsebook.com).

Her book chronicles the long medical journey her husband, Philip, endured with her as his advocate. On the tail, she discovered mismanagement and excess, useless interventions and a sometimes complete disregard for pain even when there was no hope of healing.

"I learned a great deal from our experience, and I want others to benefit from what Ive learned," she says.

Barash offers the following tips for boomers and their loved ones, to deal with medical problems:

Tip No.1: Avoid the Emergency Room if You Can

Barash says her experience proved emergency rooms were developed with the idea that few people would use them; most people would see their physician. But as health-care costs rose, ERs became a primary-care facility for the uninsured or those looking to pay for services out of pocket.

She points out that ERs were not created for patients to spend a lot of time in, presumably, they would be seen quickly and be either admitted to the hospital or treated and released.

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Health-Care Tips Every Boomer Needs to Know

Study: New health program shows promise

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A health care effort focused on preventive medicine and a team approach to treatment is showing promise improving care and reducing costs, state officials say.

The Health Care Homes initiative has increased patient access to clinics, particularly for people of color, while improving quality and coordination of care, according to a state study released Thursday.

Health Care Homes is not home health care. The idea is to change the way clinics provide care from a traditional, illness-based model, to one that strives to improve the health of patients with chronic conditions and disabilities.

Clinics can receive extra payments for their efforts. At the same time, the program is intended to reduce health care spending enough to cover its own costs.

In the first three years of the program, Minnesota has certified 322 primary care clinics as health care homes. That's about 43 percent of eligible family practice clinics in the state.

Besides lowering costs, Health Care Homes clinics outpaced other clinics on quality metrics such as asthma care and colorectal cancer screening, officials said.

"What you're seeing here is that the care is better for those individuals who are enrolled in a health care home," said Doug Wholey, who led the University of Minnesota team that evaluated Health Care Homes for the Legislature.

"Health Care Homes had higher overall quality of care for diabetes care, vascular care, asthma care and colorectal cancer screening," Wholey told reporters. Clinics that were certified as Health Care Homes scored better than non-certified clinics on a number of quality measures, he added.

The rate of appropriate asthma care was approximately 20 percent higher among Health Care Homes clinics than it was for uncertified clinics. Screening for colorectal cancer was 8 percent higher in Health Care Homes. And blood vessel care scored 4 to 8 percent higher. The results were all statistically significant.

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Study: New health program shows promise

Prof. Dr. Dr. von Eiff zum neuen Fokus "Hospital Management and Health Services" an der HHL – Video

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Prof. Dr. Dr. von Eiff zum neuen Fokus "Hospital Management and Health Services" an der HHL
Prof. Dr. Dr. Wilfried von Eiff, Akademischer Direktor des Center for Health Care Management Regulation zum neuen Fokus "Hospital Management and Health Ser...

By: Handelshochschule

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Prof. Dr. Dr. von Eiff zum neuen Fokus "Hospital Management and Health Services" an der HHL - Video


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