The owner of a mobile imaging firm in Maryland has been convicted of healthcare fraud in which at least two patients died because their imaging studies were not read by a qualified radiologist.
Rafael Chikvashvili of Alpha Diagnostics faces up to life in prison on multiple counts related to the case after a federal jury convicted him of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud; healthcare fraud, including two counts of healthcare fraud resulting in death; wire fraud; false statements; and aggravated identity theft.
Federal prosecutors accused Chikvashvili of running a scheme that ultimately defrauded the government of more than $7.5 million in Medicare and Medicaid funds. The indictment in the case charged that between 1997 and 2013 Chikvashvili submitted false radiology, ultrasound, and cardiology claims to Medicare for x-rays, ultrasound scans, electrocardiograms, and echocardiograms.
Specifically, the federal government charged that Alpha Diagnostics billed the government for imaging studies that were not read by licensed physicians, or in some cases were not performed at all. In many cases, Chikvashvili told Alpha employees who were not radiologists or physicians to interpret exams.
In particular, the jury found that two patients died because their studies were not read by a qualified radiologist. In one case, a patient who had congestive heart failure had her chest x-ray read incorrectly; because of the error, she was not transferred to an acute care facility for treatment and remained in a rehabilitative nursing home. The patient died four days later.
In the second case, the patient was scheduled to undergo elective surgery and received a preoperative chest x-ray to determine if she could safely have surgery. According to evidence presented, the patient's x-ray revealed mild congestive heart failure but the nonphysician Alpha Diagnostics employee failed to detect it, and the patient was cleared for surgery. She experienced significant bleeding and died six days after the Alpha employee misread her exam.
What's more, prosecutors charged that Chikvashvili ordered Alpha's vice president of operations, Timothy Emeigh, a radiologic technologist, to read images on his laptop while on vacation in Jamaica and draft false radiology reports. False Medicare claims were then submitted for the reports. Emeigh previously pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud and is awaiting sentencing.
Chikvashvili faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for each of the two counts of healthcare fraud resulting in death; 10 years in prison for each of nine counts of healthcare fraud; 20 years in prison for each of eight counts of wire fraud and for the conspiracy count; a maximum of five years in prison for each of 11 counts of false statements relating to healthcare matters; and a mandatory two years, consecutive to any other sentence imposed, for two counts of aggravated identity theft.
