Lawmakers Urge Coast Guard to “Piggyback” on New DoD/VA EHR System

Two years after cancelling an electronic health record (EHR) modernization project with Epic, at a cost of about $60 million, the U.S. Coast Guard continues to use a paper-based process to maintain health records and Congressional leaders want answers to what went wrong and when the department will implement a new EHR system.

During a U.S. House of Representatives’ Transportation subcommittee hearing today, Congressional leaders expressed frustration over the U.S. Coast Guard’s failure to implement a new EHR system, and urged the agency to implement the same EHR system currently being rolled out by the Department of Defense (DoD).

During the hearing today, of the subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, lawmakers heard from Coast Guard leaders and a representative from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) regarding the Coast Guard’s decision to cancel an EHR contract two years ago, which has led to Coast Guard clinical staff continuing to use paper records. Lawmakers on the subcommittee also wanted an update on the Coast Guard’s current efforts to health IT modernization efforts. Read more »

Fed: Company To Pay $5.5M For Unnecessary Ambulance Trips

Federal authorities say a Florida ambulance company has agreed to pay about $5.5 million to resolve allegations that it defrauded Medicare by billing for unnecessary ambulance trips.

A U.S. Department of Justice news release says Tampa-based AmeriCare Ambulance Service Inc. and its sister company, AmeriCare ALS Inc., reached a settlement Tuesday with federal prosecutors.

AmeriCare has also agreed to enter into an integrity agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A complaint filed last year says AmeriCare submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare and TRICARE for non-emergency ambulance transports that were not medically justified from January 2008 through December 2016. Read more »

Volkswagen supplier to face criminal case in emissions fraud

A supplier for Volkswagen AG VLKAY, +0.11%   is in discussions with the U.S. Justice Department to resolve an impending criminal case arising from its alleged participation in the German auto giant’s emissions cheating, according to people familiar with the matter, as federal prosecutors maintain pressure on automotive companies for environmental violations.

IAV GmbH, an engineering company based in Berlin, is expected in the coming months to face allegations that it aided Volkswagen in the auto maker’s nearly decadelong conspiracy to rig diesel-powered vehicles with illegal software that allowed them to dupe U.S. government emissions tests and then pollute far beyond legal limits on the road, the people said. Read more »

Apple's software update that slowed down older iPhones is reportedly being investigated by the DOJ

The US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission have started investigating an Apple software update that slowed down older iPhones, according to a Bloomberg report.

Apple acknowledged late last year than an iPhone software update issued in February 2017 slowed down the processors on some older devices. The company said the update was designed to prevent unexpected shutdowns in devices with older batteries.Read more »

AriseBank Claims It Raised $600 Million. The SEC Alleges the Company Is ‘An Outright Scam’

The shadiest parts of the cryptocurrency world have been drawing more attention in recent weeks. A flurry of regulatory activity on Tuesday may be start of another mass crackdown.

In South Korea, one of the biggest cryptocurrency markets, new laws went into effect aimed at stamping out anonymous trading and money laundering. Other countries, including China and Japan, have also intensified regulatory pressure on cryptocurrency exchanges. Facebook further announced Tuesday that it will ban all cryptocurrency ads, even those for legitimate businesses, to prevent scams. And Bloomberg reported that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission last month subpoenaed Bitfinex and Tether, interrelated companies that facilitate a cryptocurrency supposedly backed by the U.S. dollar. Read more »

U.S. regulator subpoenas cryptocurrency platforms Bitfinex and Tether: source

The U.S. derivatives regulator has sent a subpoena to two of the world’s largest cryptocurrency platforms, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday, as watchdogs globally increase their scrutiny of the emerging asset class. Read more »

Florida for-profit college chain to pay $600,000 over false financial aid claim

A for-profit Florida college chain reached a $600,000 settlement agreement with the Department of Justice on Wednesday over allegations that college employees submitted false federal financial aid claims.

Employees at Florida Technical College’s Cutler Bay campus allegedly submitted false documents showing that 27 students had high school diplomas or the equivalent when the students did not, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. This practice increased the college’s enrollment numbers, resulting in more money from the federal government “at the expense of taxpayers and students, who incurred long-term debt,” the statement says.

“Federal financial aid is meant to help qualified students obtain a quality education from an eligible institution, and we are committed to ensure colleges comply with the rules to make certain that federal financial aid is provided to those individuals it is meant to assist,” U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg said in the statement. Read more »

United States Intervenes in False Claims Act Lawsuit Against MRI Provider

The United States has intervened in a lawsuit against Orthopaedic and Neuro Imaging LLC (ONI), and the company's owner, Richard Pfarr, that alleges they submitted false claims for Medicare reimbursement.  The announcement was made today by Acting United States Attorney David C. Weiss of the District of Delaware.

ONI operates independent diagnostic testing facilities (IDTFs) in Delaware and Maryland.  The lawsuit alleges that ONI and Pfarr knowingly submitted false claims to Medicare by administering contrast dye during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans on patients without proper supervision by a physician. Contrast dye is a chemical that is injected intravenously into the body in order to make certain tissues more clearly visible on an MRI. Read more »