Missouri podiatrist pleads guilty to health care fraud (MO)
A St. Louis County podiatrist, Dr. Denise Hardy, 45, recently plead guilty to a health care fraud charge in federal court in St. Louis and has admitted to over billing Medicaid and Medicare for unnecessary treatments.
Prosecutors said that Denise Hardy, D.P.M., lied on treatment notes from 2000 through 2005 so that Medicaid and Medicare would pay for foot care that would not otherwise have been reimbursed.
Dr. Hardy worked for South St. Louis Orthopedic Group between 1998 and 2005 and provided podiatric services at their office as well as at nursing homes, such as Lafayette Habilitation and at senior service centers at St. Anthonys Medical Center and St. Alexius Hospital.
Denise Hardy was paid a salary of $55,000 plus between 50 to 60 percent of the revenue she had billed each month over $12,000.
Source: St. Louis Post Dispatch 3-13-2009
