Serenity Hospice and Palliative Care will pay $2.2 million to the federal government to settle claims that it falsely billed Medicare. A former employee identified that Serenity flagged patients who were referred by one medical provider to ensure that they were admitted as hospice patients. In turn, Serenity would treat that provider’s staff to dinner, concerts and limousine rides as incentives to refer the hospice patients.
The former employee also alleged that Serenity would often put patients in a general inpatient care unit that Medicare reimbursed at a rate of $500 a day more than the standard hospice care.
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/investigations/2015/10/07/phoenix-hospice-settles-false-medicare-billing-claims-22-million/73533218/