A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Shands Teaching Hospital & Clinics Inc, Shands Jacksonville Medical Center Inc, and Shands Jacksonville Healthcare Inc (Shands Healthcare). They are accused of submitting false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health care programs for inpatient procedures that should have been billed as outpatient services by six of its health care facilities.
Of the $26 million settlement, $25,170,400 will go to Medicare and other federal health care payors. The settlement also resolved allegations under the Florida False Claims Act; the state of Florida will receive $829,600. The whistleblower's portion of the recovery has not been determined.