Operations manager, doctors charged in $70M imaging kickback scheme
An operations manager is being accused of running an imaging scam in Boston that defrauded Medicare out of tens of millions of dollars.
Timothy Doyle, 45, of Selden, New York, allegedly orchestrated a kickback scheme with the help of two other managers from a mobile diagnostics company. The trio entered into agreements with various doctors that consisted of financial kickbacks drawn from Medicare reimbursements for unnecessary brain imaging—transcranial doppler, or TCD scans—ordered by the providers.
Doyle and his co-conspirators reportedly paid the providers via falsified rental and service agreements. These agreements made it appear as though they were paying to rent a space or utilize the providers’ resources. The payment amounts were disguised based on fair market value for the services, rather than the number of referrals they received for the scans.
The scheme took place over a period of at least seven years starting in 2013, resulting in Medicare being billed for more than $70 million in fraudulent claims for unnecessary scans.
Doyle was charged and has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts. If convicted, Doyle could face up to five years in prison, followed by three additional years of supervised release, in addition to a $250,000 fine.
According to additional releases from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, at least two of the doctors who participated in the scheme have also been charged. In November, Kenneth Fishberger, MD, 75, an internal medicine provider in Long Island, New York, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and is scheduled for sentencing in February; Vishnudat Seodat, MD, 75, a primary care provider in Mattituck, New York, also agreed to plead guilty to the same charges on Dec. 2.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.