Hospital CFO gets 23-month sentence for MU fraud
The former hospital CFO who was found guilty of defrauding the Meaningful Use (MU) program has been sentenced to 23 months in prison.
In November 2014, Shelby Regional Medical Center's then-CFO Joe White pleaded guilty to falsely attesting to the MU program during the 2012 full-year reporting period. White also pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft for using a worker's name to falsify documents for MU funding.
The false statements led to the medical center in Center, Texas, and other hospitals owned by Tariq Mahmood receiving almost $17 million in incentive payments.
Mahmood was convicted in July of conspiracy to commit fraud, healthcare fraud and aggravated identity theft, and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
In April, White agreed to pay agreed to pay about $4.4 million in restitution for his involvement in an effort to defraud the MU program.
"There is no doubt that White understood" the purpose of the incentive program," said U.S. Attorney John Bales, "yet, he intentionally decided to steal taxpayer monies and in the process, undermine and abuse this important program."
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.