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On June 25, a federal court held that Gentiva Health Services – a home-health agency that provides home-health services to more than 350,000 patients nationwide – must face charges that it violated the False Claims Act by falsely certifying patients in need psychiatric care.
In a lawsuit filed in 2010, Ms. Vicky White alleged that Gentiva violated the False Claims Act by engaging in various fraudulent healthcare schemes. Namely, the relator accused Gentiva of billing for unnecessary home visits, improperly marketing home health services, falsely certifying patients as homebound, billing for subpar skilled nursing services, and falsely certifying patients in need psychiatric care.
Though the court dismissed some of White’s claims, Judge Pamela L. Reeves for the Eastern District of Tennessee held that the information contained in the relator’s complaint created a “strong inference” that Gentiva submitted false claims by fraudulently certifying patients as requiring psychiatric care.
The relator, Vicky White, is represented by the whistleblower attorneys at Goldberg Kohn. We look forward to proceeding with the case as we are committed to fighting fraud against the government and protecting the rights of whistleblowers. Please contact us at (312) 863-7222 if you have information about this case, or would like to schedule a free, confidential consultation with one of our nationally-recognized whistleblower attorneys.