Physical therapist pays $100,000<br> to help settle Medicare charges

PROVIDENCE – William H. Wynne, a physical therapist who had offices in East Providence and Warwick, has paid the U.S. government $100,000 to settle possible charges of Medicare fraud, federal officials said.
The settlement was announced today by U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente and Special Agent in Charge Joseph Moraski, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General.
The settlement agreement states that, between January 2000 and August 2005, Wynne submitted claims to Medicare that resulted in payments of $696,313 to his Wynne Physical Therapy Inc.
But a federal audit allegedly found that some of those claims had been “upcoded” (billed at a higher payment code than was justified) and some were for procedures that were medically unnecessary.
Corrente and Moraski added that, after reviewing the audit, the HHS Office of the Inspector General opened an investigation that included equipping Wynne’s vehicle with a Global Positioning System.
Surveillance by Special Agent Lisa Dumont allegedly found that, though Wynne billed for treatments lasting 30 to 60 minutes, his actual time with patients was only 10 to 20 minutes. The investigation also allegedly found that several claims he submitted were for addresses that had not registered on the GPS device.
Under a pretrial diversion agreement reached simultaneously with the settlement agreement, Corrente and Moraski said, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has agreed to forego possible criminal prosecution if Wynne complies with terms that include performing 20 hours of community service each month for a year.
Additional information is available at www.usdoj.gov/usao/ri/.