Physician And Two Nurses Found Guilty of $13 Million Home Care Fraud Scam

Posted by donna@healthlawcenterplc.com in Jun, 2018

Dr. Kelly Robinett a semi-retired emergency room doctor with more than 30 years of experience was convicted of fraud for his role in a $13 million home health care scam. After a weeklong trial before U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Dallas, the jury issued its verdict after several hours of deliberations. Along with Dr. Robinette, the jury also found nurses Kingsley Nwanguma and Joy Ogwuegbu guilty of health care fraud.

The Assistant U.S. Attorney alleged that Dr. Robinett essentially “rubber stamped” fraudulent documents over an eight-year period, allowing the Dallas-based Timely Home Health Services to bill Medicare for home health care services the patients didn’t need. While most of the patients were vulnerable and elderly, they were not confined to their homes as required to qualify for the home health care services. Dr. Robinett certified the Medicare patients for home health care even though he did not see the patients and the patients didn’t qualify for the services.

Nurse Nwanguma, a licensed vocational nurse working for Timely Home Health, was alleged to have also falsified documents and accepted kickbacks for recruiting patients for this scheme. Nurse Ogwuegbu, the prior director of nursing for Timely Home Health was alleged to have also been a part of the fraudulent scheme.

” FBI Dallas office special agent in charge Eric K. Jackson was quoted as saying, “The significance of this case highlights the responsibility health care workers, especially physicians and nurses, have to protect not only their patients, but prevent fraud against any federal health insurance program during the performance of their duties.” The takeaway from this case is for health care providers to adhere to best practices and not blindly sign medical documents or attestations unless they know the significance of their signatures and attestations, and only sign after determining all legal requirements have been met.