Fort Myers, Fla.-based 21st Century Oncology, which filed for bankruptcy in May, has agreed to pay the federal government $26 million to resolve false claims allegations and a self-disclosure that it submitted false attestations regarding the use of EHR software, according to the Department of Justice, Becker's Hospital Review reported. 21st Century Oncology, which operates 179 cancer treatment centers across the U.S. and Latin America, disclosed to the government that it knowingly submitted false attestations to CMS concerning employed physicians' use of EHR software as part of the Medicare Electronic Health Records Incentive Program. To legitimize the attestations, the company said its employees falsified data regarding the use of EHR software, fabricated utilization reports and superimposed EHR vendor logos onto reports. The settlement also resolves allegations that 21st Century Oncology violated the False Claims Act and Stark Law by submitting claims to government payers for services performed by physicians with whom it had improper financial relationships.
