HoCo Doctor To Reimburse Government $663K For Fraudulent Claims

COLUMBIA, MD — A Howard County doctor has been ordered to pay more than $660,000 to resolve allegations of fraudulent billing. Njideka Udochi, a family practice physician who owns Millennium Family Practice in Columbia, has agreed to pay the United States $663,094.76 to resolve allegations that she submitted false claims to the Medicare program for fraudulent neurostimulator billings stemming from the use of an auricular stimulation device.

“Taping a device with adhesive is clearly not the same as surgical implantation,” Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan Lenzner said in a news release. “Falsely billing the government for a procedure that reimburses at a high rate for such a simple procedure that is not reimbursed at all diverts valuable government resources and undermines confidence in our healthcare system. This settlement will restore funds that should not have been reimbursed and should serve as a bold reminder that improper billing will not be tolerated."

According to the settlement agreement, from January 2019 to May 2019, Udochi used a P-Stim device to treat pain patients and falsely billed Medicare for the use of the P-Stim device by using the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code for a neurosurgical procedure of an invasive and extensive nature where the device is implanted into the patient. Acupuncture, electrical or otherwise, is not reimbursable by Medicare.

HCPCS codes are used by Medicare to determine the level of reimbursement to providers. Medicare reimburses providers approximately $6,255.61 for an implantable neurostimulator procedure, reflecting the complexity and in-depth nature of surgical implantation of a neurostimulator. Despite the fact that Medicare does not provide any reimbursement for the use of acupuncture devices, Udochi’s false billing for P -Stim devices, that were taped behind the ears of her patients and were often removed by her patients at home without assistance from a medical professional, caused Medicare to pay her hundreds of thousands of dollars.