Rutherford County, North Carolina, Department of Emergency Medical Services Agreed to Pay $652,000 for Allegedly Violating the Civil Monetary Penalties Law by Presenting Claims for Non-Emergency Transportation Services That Were Not Provided as Claimed

After it self-disclosed conduct to OIG, Rutherford County, North Carolina, Department of Emergency Medical Services (Rutherford), North Carolina, agreed to pay $652,671.53 for allegedly violating the Civil Monetary Penalties Law. OIG alleged that Rutherford presented claims to Medicare and TRICARE for non-emergency transportation services that Rutherford knew or should have known were not provided as claimed and were false and fraudulent because they did not have valid Physician Certification Statement (PCS) forms as required. Specifically, OIG contended that the documentation for such transports either did not include a PCS form certifying the transport or contained PCS forms with: (1) falsified dates, cut and pasted signatures, and/or forged signatures by Rutherford’s former Quality Assurance Specialist; (2) signatures dated after the transport date; or (3) photocopied or inaccurate signatures from providers.

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