Feds join fourth Columbia/HCA lawsuit; Florida trial continues
By KAREN PIHL-CAREY
HHBR Staff Writer
Columbia/HCA Healthcare (Nashville, TN) executives planned to prevent a Medicare auditor from discovering overpayments to the company by giving her a job, a former employee testified last week.
In the fourth week of a trial involving what FBI officials call the largest healthcare investigation ever in terms of money, the court heard the testimony of John Schilling, a former reimbursement supervisor with the company and a whistleblower. Schilling said company executives Jay Jarrell, Robert Whiteside, and Michael Neeb suggested hiring the auditor if she kept questioning reports filed with the government. They even talked about bombarding her with questions to distract her, Schilling testified. He was also told, he said, to check whether reserve funds would cover the hospital if the overpayments were discovered. Prosecutors later introduced evidence of Neeb’s handwritten notes with the words "hire her."
Jarrell, Whiteside, Neeb, and Carl Lynn Dick are the four mid-level executives on trial in Tampa, FL, for allegedly defrauding the government of $2.97 million. They, however, are not the only employees of the nation’s largest hospital chain under scrutiny. The investigation spans six states, and the Justice Department announced last week that it is joining a fourth whistleblower lawsuit against the company in El Paso, TX. The lawsuit alleges that Columbia paid kickbacks for patient referrals, upcoded claims for reimbursement, and shifted costs on its Medicare cost reports.
BancBoston Robertson Stephens analyst Sheryl Skolnick said the government may be pressuring the company for concessions, or simply stating that it’s not ready to quit the investigation, reported the Los Angeles Times. The company should be concerned because legal fees are getting expensive, Skolnick said.
Federal agents first raided Columbia/HCA hospitals and doctors’ offices in El Paso in March 1997. Most of the public activity so far has taken place in Florida, where the trial is expected to take another month, following a break this week.
A Columbia spokesman said the Justice Department’s action only brings the company closer to resolving the issue. The company, which broadcast its annual meeting May 27 live over the Internet, has worked hard to appoint major business figures to its board in an effort to enhance its credibility with shareholders and the government. Its most recent appointment is that of J. Michael Cook. Cook retired as chairman/CEO of Deloitte & Touche, where he worked since 1964. He is expected to bring new accountability to Columbia.
In the Florida trial, defense attorneys questioned Schilling’s credibility because he stands to receive as much as 25% of any money granted by the court. Cross-examination of his testimony is expected to resume next week.
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