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therapy billing fraud case settled - Spokesman.com - Nov. 24,

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Physical therapy billing fraud case settled Man agrees to restitution, loss

of license

By * Stucke <http://www.spokesman.com/staff/john-stucke/> * The

Spokesman-Review

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Tags: Schmidt <http://www.spokesman.com/tags/patrick-schmidt>

physical therapy <http://www.spokesman.com/tags/physical-therapy>Star

Physical Therapy <http://www.spokesman.com/tags/star-physical-therapy>

A Spokane physical therapist has escaped a 52-count felony case that

accused him of overbilling the state for patient care.

The Spokane Superior Court case filed in 2009 against Schmidt of

Star Physical Therapy ended with a fizzle last week after he paid about

$22,400 in restitution and agreed to 240 hours of community service as part

of a plea agreement.

Schmidt also agreed to an action that will result in the loss of his

license for up to five years, according to court records.

Felony convictions could have resulted in Schmidt facing prison time and

tens of thousands of dollars in fines.

Though state officials declared the case a successful prosecution of fraud,

Schmidt’s attorney blunted such assertions.

Defense lawyer Carl Oreskovich pointed to the results of the case that

began in May 2009 as a whistle-blower action. An investigation led to 52

felony charges of theft and falsifying records. More than two years later,

this August , Schmidt entered an Alford plea on two misdemeanors. The plea

enabled him to maintain his innocence while acknowledging that he may have

been convicted at trial.

The case boiled down to an interpretation of billing codes, Oreskovich said.

Schmidt maintained he could bill for the services of an athletic trainer

working on patients under his supervision. Officials at Labor and

Industries disagreed.

Oreskovich said inconsistencies with code interpretation lead to many

medical providers being prosecuted.

Labor and Industries characterized the case as a victory against fraud. In

a blog post, an L & I official noted: “Schmidt created fictional chart notes

for clients who missed an appointment, so L & I could be billed for services

that couldn’t possibly have been rendered. It was clear that Schmidt had

submitted at least 40 false invoices to L & I.”

The Board of Physical Therapy charged Schmidt with unprofessional conduct –

citing the criminal prosecution and plea deal as evidence that he

“allegedly engaged in daily and systemic overbilling, upcoding, and billing

for services not provided.”

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