Whipple v. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hosp. Auth. (Summary)

FALSE CLAIMS ACT

Whipple v. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hosp. Auth., No. 3-11-0206 (M.D. Tenn. Aug. 26, 2013)

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee granted a hospital’s motion for summary judgment in a False Claims Act suit brought by a consultant who was performing auditing services for the hospital.  The consultant claimed that the hospital improperly (1) billed patients for inpatient care when they should have been billed as outpatient or observation, (2) added observation charges to claims for outpatient surgeries, and (3) billed certain dialysis procedures as inpatient claims when they should have been billed as outpatient or observation.

In granting the hospital’s motion for summary judgment, the court held that the public disclosure provisions of the False Claims Act barred the consultant’s claims.  The court found that the consultant’s allegations were based on prior investigations and information compiled by, among others, the Office of Inspector General.  Moreover, the consultant was not an original source of the information underlying his claims because the information he collected during his engagement with the hospital was from other sources and included spreadsheets and medical records from past submissions.