A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Baptist Health, which owns four Jacksonville hospitals, Memorial Hospital, Specialty Hospital, Lake City Medical Center, Orange Park Medical Center, University of Florida Health Jacksonville, and Century Ambulance Service Inc.
The whistleblower will receive a $1.2 million share of the recovery.
According to the settlement terms, Baptist Health will pay $2.89 million; Memorial Hospital, Specialty Hospital, Lake City Medical Center and Orange Park Medical Center will pay a combined $2.37 million; University of Florida Health Jacksonville will pay $1 million; and Century will pay $1.25 million.
The case, filed in 2011, alleged that the hospitals routinely ordered ambulance transfers via Century that were medically suspect, costing Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program millions in unnecessary billings. Additionally, the complaint claimed that the hospitals routinely ordered life support ambulance transfers that were medically unnecessary. In association with this alleged healthcare fraud, Century was accused of knowingly up-coding claims from basic to advanced life support. Century was also accused of transporting patients unnecessarily and needlessly driving patients to their own homes as if it were an emergency.
