According to the Department of Justice, the government has intervened in the IPC whistleblower lawsuit against IPC The Hospitalist Co. Inc., and its subsidiaries (IPC) alleging that IPC submitted false claims to federal health care programs
- IPC, based in North Hollywood, Calif., is one of the largest providers of hospitalist services in the United States
- The IPC whistleblower lawsuit alleges that IPC physicians sought payment for higher and more expensive levels of medical service than were actually performed – a practice commonly referred to as “upcoding.”
- Specifically, the IPC whistleblower lawsuit alleges that IPC encouraged its physicians to bill at the highest levels regardless of the level of service provided, trained physicians to use higher level codes and encouraged physicians with lower billing levels to “catch up” to their peers.
- The lawsuit was filed by Dr. Bijan Oughatiyan, a former IPC physician, under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which permit private parties to sue for false claims on behalf of the government and to share in any recovery.
- The False Claims Act also allows the government to intervene or take over the lawsuit, as it has done in this case, and to recover three times its damages plus civil penalties.
At the Gooch Law Firm, we pride ourselves on providing our clients reliable representation for even the most challenging cases. If you need help with providing whistleblower information anonymously (to the Department of Justice or The Office of the Whistleblower) about potential fraud (e.g., health care fraud, defense department contract fraud, securities fraud – governmental or non-governmental, contract fraud, investor fraud etc.) and would like your case evaluated, contact our office at 1.844.329.5955.
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