St. Johns Mercy Health System Press Release (Settlement)

November 30, 2010
For Immediate Release

US & ST. JOHN’S MERCY HEALTH SYSTEM REACH $2.2 MILLION CIVIL SETTLEMENT

St. Louis, MO: The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that the United States has reached a civil settlement with St. John’s Mercy Health System and St. John’s Health System, Inc. regarding routine foot care provided by clinics at six St. John’s hospitals in Missouri. Under the terms of the settlement, St. John’s will pay the United States $2,225,000 to resolve claims that these six hospitals violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims to Medicare for routine foot care in violation of Medicare policy.

Medicare has a long-standing policy that, absent certain medical conditions, it does not pay for routine foot care services. Instead, Medicare only pays for specific procedures provided to patients that have documented diagnoses and serious medical conditions. In the settlement agreement, the United States alleges that from January 1, 2005, through March 31, 2010, St. John’s Hospital in Lebanon, MO; St. Francis Hospital in Mountain View, MO; St. John’s Regional Health Center in Springfield, MO; St. John’s Hospital in Aurora, MO; St. John’s Hospital in Cassville, MO, and St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis each maintained a foot clinic which received Medicare payments for routine toenail trimmings and toenail debridements given to Medicare beneficiaries. The United States claimed that the services were not medically necessary or covered under the Medicare program’s rules and regulations.

Les Hollie, Special Agent in Charge of the Kansas City Regional Office of Investigations for the Department of Health and Human Services, stated, “These investigations and their outcomes protect the tax payers and the trust fund from waste and abuse. We appreciate St. John’s cooperation throughout the investigation and the efforts of our partners with the United States Attorney’s Office in reaching this settlement.”

St. John’s fully cooperated in the investigation and closed the foot clinics as a result of the investigation and settlement.

This case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General as part of a State-wide probe of podiatric services involving a number of hospitals and providers, and several earlier criminal convictions and civil settlements.

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI RICHARD G. CALLAHAN United States Attorney	NEWS RELEASE
For further information call (314) 539-2200
November 30, 2010 For Immediate Release US & ST. JOHN’S MERCY HEALTH SYSTEM REACH $2.2 MILLION CIVIL SETTLEMENT St. Louis, MO: The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that the United States has reached a civil settlement with St. John’s Mercy Health System and St. John’s Health System, Inc. regarding routine foot care provided by clinics at six St. John’s hospitals in Missouri. Under the terms of the settlement, St. John’s will pay the United States $2,225,000 to resolve claims that these six hospitals violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims to Medicare for routine foot care in violation of Medicare policy. Medicare has a long-standing policy that, absent certain medical conditions, it does not pay for routine foot care services. Instead, Medicare only pays for specific procedures provided to patients that have documented diagnoses and serious medical conditions. In the settlement agreement, the United States alleges that from January 1, 2005, through March 31, 2010, St. John’s Hospital in Lebanon, MO; St. Francis Hospital in Mountain View, MO; St. John’s Regional Health Center in Springfield, MO; St. John’s Hospital in Aurora, MO; St. John’s Hospital in Cassville, MO, and St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis each maintained a foot clinic which received Medicare payments for routine toenail trimmings and toenail debridements given to Medicare beneficiaries. The United States claimed that the services were not medically necessary or covered under the Medicare program’s rules and regulations. Les Hollie, Special Agent in Charge of the Kansas City Regional Office of Investigations for the Department of Health and Human Services, stated, “These investigations and their outcomes protect the tax payers and the trust fund from waste and abuse. We appreciate St. John’s cooperation throughout the investigation and the efforts of our partners with the United States Attorney’s Office in reaching this settlement.” St. John’s fully cooperated in the investigation and closed the foot clinics as a result of the investigation and settlement. This case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General as part of a State-wide probe of podiatric services involving a number of hospitals and providers, and several earlier criminal convictions and civil settlements.