Parkland Memorial Hospital and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have agreed to pay $1.4 million to end a federal investigation of alleged Medicare billing fraud at Dallas County's general hospital.
A statement from the U.S. attorney's office in Dallas says the defendants "fully cooperated with the investigation, and by settling, did not admit any wrongdoing or liability."
The probe centered Medicare claims submitted for care by physician residents under the supervision of teaching physicians when no such supervision was given. Such "upcoding" was alleged to have occurred at Parkland between 2004 and 2007.
A UT Southwestern statement says it still "vigorously denies any lapse in the supervision of physicians-in-training, inappropriate billing, wrongdoing, or liability." It says the settlement releases it and the hospital from all claims.
