Allegheny nursing home investigated
egheny County nursing home on Saturday dismissed as untrue allegations made by the government in court documents that the home had apparently double-billed Medicare and Medicaid. No officials with the Ronald Reagan Atrium I Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Robinson Township have been charged in the investigation.
The documents containing the double-billing accusations were filed Friday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh. Friday’s court filing responded to a request filed by Atrium’s attorney two weeks ago asking a judge to quash a subpoena filed in August by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for thousands of pages of records at the nursing home.
Atrium’s attorney, Lawrence Zurawsky, has called the subpoena “oppressive” and a “blatant fishing expedition” and on Saturday said the government allegations of Medicare and Medicaid fraud to justify the subpoena were false.
“Other (state) agencies have embarked on an investigation into the same claims and have found no evidence to substantiate them,” Zurawsky told The Associated Press on Saturday.
But federal prosecutors said in the documents that Atrium, which is owned by the Alzheimer’s Disease Alliance of Western Pennsylvania Inc., appeared to be double-billing government insurance agencies for services and supplies – and also allegedly diverted patient care money to augment employee salaries.
The documents don’t identify the employees who would have benefited from the alleged fraud.
Federal investigators say the overbilling would be fraud, but also want to know if money that was supposed to be spent on patients was used for other reasons because they are conducting a parallel investigation into the death of a patient.
Mabel Taylor, 88, an Alzheimer’s patient, died after she was locked out of the 120-bed facility in 40-degree temperatures. An autopsy showed Taylor died of heart disease aggravated by cold temperatures.
According to a report by the Allegheny County coroner, Taylor was an Alzheimer’s patient who walked through a door that had been propped open so nursing home workers could smoke outside.
The coroner has recommended charges against an administrator and a nursing supervisor of neglecting to care for a dependent person, perjury and conspiring to obstruct justice.
That case is still under investigation by the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office, which has not filed charges.
U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan says she is also investigating possible patient neglect in Taylor’s death.
Buchanan says federal authorities rarely investigate allegations of substandard care because there are no specific federal laws addressing the subject – although poor care could become a federal issue if federal money intended for the patient in question was misspent. She would not specify what charges or penalties the nursing home or its officials could face.
Federal authorities said they need the records to determine whether Atrium provided proper care for 14 patients, and whether services for which Medicare and Medicaid claims were filed were actually provided.
The records for the 14 patients represent “the most egregious cases or neglect based on allegations received,” according to the documents filed by federal prosecutors.