Local doctors settle in Medicare case

By Marshall Allen

Friday, Nov. 28, 2008 | 2 a.m.

The former president of the Nevada State Medical Association, the state’s largest physician advocacy group, is one of six Las Vegas doctors who have repaid a total of $625,000 to the federal government to resolve allegations of Medicare fraud stemming from an apparent kickback scheme.

Dr. Robert Shreck, who is now the medical director of HealthCare Partners, a large medical group in Las Vegas, was required to pay back $94,574 to the government, according to the agreement. He and the other physicians were accused by the Justice Department of referring patients to Greg Martin, a nurse practitioner, who allegedly performed unnecessary services and then submitted claims to Medicare, the federal government’s insurance program for people who are disabled or over age 65.

In exchange for the referrals, Martin paid 50 percent of the payments he received from Medicare to the doctors, the government alleged. Federal law prohibits kickbacks to doctors for referring patients to others.

The alleged misconduct took place from 2000 to 2004, according to the settlement agreement.

Shreck, who was previously a vice president at HealthInsight, a nonprofit organization that contracts with the government to improve health care performance in Nevada, denies any wrongdoing. He accused the government of coming after him and other doctors because they were cheated out of money by Martin.

“They railroaded us, basically,” Shreck said.

Martin could not be reached by the Sun. Officials with the Nevada State Board of Nursing said he now works at Ely State Prison, but prison officials refused the Sun’s request to leave him a message.

Shreck has been involved in family medicine in Las Vegas for 30 years. He served as president of the Clark County Medical Association and the Nevada Academy of Family Physicians. He has also served in leadership positions with the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Shreck said he was one of about a dozen doctors who had a collaboration agreement with Martin, which means he was paid a consulting fee to review the nurse practitioner’s work — checking charts, discussing patient care and being available on call.

“There was no referral that went on,” Shreck said.

The settlement agreement was not an admission of guilt by the doctors, nor a concession by the government that its claims were not well founded, the agreement said.

Shreck said he settled with the Justice Department because he couldn’t find a Las Vegas lawyer who could handle the case and the fight was not worth what it would have cost him in attorney fees.

“I’m on my third lawyer right now and two others were unable to make any headway with the Department of Justice,” he said.

Shreck said he is upset about the settlement because Martin pleaded his way out of any penalty. Justice Department officials said they do not have a case pending against Martin.

None of the other doctors who settled with the government, or their attorneys, returned the Sun’s requests for comment. The physicians and the amounts they agreed to pay the government are:

• Dr. Tony Q.F. Chin, physical medicine and rehabilitation, $70,640.

• Dr. Craig M. Jorgenson, internal medicine, $133,110.

• Dr. Wen Liang, internal medicine, $212,515.

• Dr. Mohammed Najmi, internal medicine, $60,451.

• Dr. Edmund Pasimio, pain medicine and physical medicine, $54,440.

Chin, Najmi and Pasimio have privileges at Valley Hospital Medical Center. Officials there said they were not aware of the settlement until they were contacted by the Sun. The hospital is now investigating the matter and will take all appropriate action in accordance with hospital bylaws, officials said.

Chin was the medical director of a rehabilitation program at Valley Hospital that was discontinued in 2004, hospital officials said.

Najmi sits on the medical executive committee — a group of physicians that makes disciplinary decisions about colleagues — at MountainView Hospital, Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center and HealthSouth Hospital at Tenaya.

Bill Schoonmaker, chief executive of HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Henderson, said Jorgenson has credentials at the facility. Because the settlement agreement was not an admission of guilt, no disciplinary action was taken against Jorgenson, Schoonmaker said. But the alleged fraud was investigated and it was communicated to Jorgenson that such behavior would not be acceptable, Schoonmaker said.

Louis Ling, executive director of the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners, said the board was aware of the settlements with the six physicians, but he said he could not comment on whether the fraud allegations had sparked an investigation.