April 18, 2016
Georgia dermatologists Margaret Kopchick and Russell Burken and their practice group,
Toccoa Clinic Medical Associates, agreed collectively to pay $1.9 million to settle claims that they violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicare for evaluation and management (E&M) services that were not permitted by Medicare rules. According to the government, Drs. Burken and Kopchick’s improperly billed for E&M services along with procedures where no significant and separately identifiable service was performed, and upcoded E&M services to higher levels than were appropriate, leading to overpayments by Medicare.
DOJ (NDGA)