An x-ray technician who became vice president of a Maryland-based portable x-ray provider has pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud that has cost Medicare more than $2.5 million, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland.
Timothy Emeigh of York Springs, PA, was a licensed x-ray technologist who worked at Alpha Diagnostics Services of Owings Mills, MD, beginning in 1993 as an x-ray technologist. In 1997, he was named vice president of the company's operations.
Alpha Diagnostics Services was a portable x-ray supplier in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, although the company also provided portable ultrasound tests, electrocardiograms, and echocardiograms. The majority of its clients were nursing homes.
In 1997, Emeigh began performing x-ray interpretations in lieu of a licensed physician or radiologist, producing fraudulent reports using the names of actual physicians who had never seen the x-rays in question, according to the statement from the U.S. attorney's office. In 2003, he began interpreting medical tests and writing reports in the name of registered licensed physicians and interpreting and producing fraudulent reports for ultrasounds and electrocardiograms from his home on his home computer.
By 2010, Emeigh was performing more than 70% of the company's x-ray interpretations. On an average month, more than 1,000 x-ray interpretations were conducted by Alpha Diagnostics in Maryland alone, according to the statement.
Alpha Diagnostics billed insurance providers for two-view chest x-rays when single-view x-rays had been ordered or performed; submitted insurance payment claims that overstated the number of anatomical views performed by its x-ray and ultrasound technologists; and billed Medicare for both the professional and technical components of x-ray procedures for studies interpreted by Emeigh or other unlicensed Alpha Diagnostics personnel. From January 2007 through October 2012, the financial loss to Medicare alone for these fraudulent practices was more than $2.5 million.
Emeigh faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar has scheduled sentencing for October 29, the U.S. attorney's office said.
