Two NY eye practices to pay $2.3M over false ultrasound claims

Two New York ophthalmology practices have agreed to pay a combined $2.3 million to resolve allegations that they submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary cranial ultrasounds.The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced the settlements Friday involving Mark D. Fromer, P.C., doing business as Fromer Eye Centers, and Floral Park Ophthalmology P.C.The estate of Mark Fromer, the former owner of Fromer Eye Centers, also joined the settlement.Federal prosecutors alleged the practices worked with a third-party testing company to perform transcranial Doppler ultrasounds on thousands of patients and bill federal health care programs hundreds of dollars for each test.According to the Justice Department, patients were identified as having a serious diagnosis that could qualify the tests for reimbursement before the results were available. Prosecutors alleged nearly all of those patients did not have the diagnosis reflected in their m