Dive Brief:
- Denver-based DaVita HealthCare revealed in a regulatory filing that the Department of Health and Human Services has subpoenaed the company in connection with diagnosis coding for its Medicare Advantage billing.
- The subpoena covers the period from Jan. 1, 2008 through the present and includes DaVita subsidiaries.
- DaVita says it believes the subpoena "is part of a broader industry investigation into Medicare Advantage patient diagnosis coding and risk adjustment practices and potential overpayments by the government."
Dive Insight:
According to DaVita, some of the requested information has to do with possible improper billing by HealthCare Partners, which DaVita acquired for $4.4 billion in 2012. DaVita says when it acquired the company, it discontinued that coding practice and notified CMS of the possible overpayments.
This latest scrutiny of the dialysis provider comes in the wake of a $495-million settlement DaVita agreed to in May to resolve allegations of Medciare fraud. That resolution was DaVita's third whistleblower settlement since 2012; all together, the company has paid out more then $1 billion.