FBI agents carted away billing reports, procedure manuals, patient records, computer data and other information when they searched seven Utah hospitals Wednesday, the Deseret News has learned.
Among the specific targets of their search warrants was billing information concerning laboratory tests.The raids were part of coordinated searches of 35 hospitals in six states that are or were part of the Columbia/HCA chain, based in Nashville, Tenn., the largest health-care corporation in the country. Columbia has 350 hospitals, but only 35 were targeted for the investigation of possible violations of Medicare or Medicaid billing.
Columbia officials were tight-lipped, both in Utah and in Nashville. Bobbie Kale, spokeswoman for the Columbia Utah Division in Salt Lake City, simply verified that agents served search warrants on Columbia locations in Utah.
"It is the company's understanding that the warrants requested various records and documents related to laboratory billings. But we have not been informed on the complete nature or scope of the government investigation."
However, the Deseret News has learned a few skimpy details. Among the records sought were billing information on CPT (Current Procedure Terminology) for physician services, concerning:
- CPT Code 80091, thyroid laboratory test.
- CPT Code 82977, a lab test called "glutamy treansferase, gamma" checking enzymes that transport amino acids.
- CPT Code 85024, a hemogram and platelet count, involving red and white blood cell count, another laboratory test.
Other specific CPT code records were sought as well.
Hospitals that were subjected to search agents of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies were Ashley Valley Medical Center, Orem; Brigham City Community Hospital; Castleview Hospital, Price; Lakeview Hospital, Bountiful; St. Mark's Hospital, Salt Lake County; Mountain View Hospital, Payson; and Pioneer Valley Hospital, West Valley City.
All except the last are part of the Columbia/HCA chain. Pioneer was owned by Columbia from August 1995 until early last year when the chain was forced to divest itself of three hospitals in Utah. The divestiture was ordered by the Federal Trade Commission before a merger could be carried out.
One additional Columbia/HCA hospital in Utah, Ogden Regional Medical Center, was not searched.
Pioneer Hospital officials were the only ones willing to talk in detail to the Deseret News. They stressed that FBI agents sought only records relating to the previous ownership, when the hospital was owned by Columbia. Its present owner is Paracelsus Healthcare of Utah.
"They came in right after 8 o'clock yesterday morning with a group of about 20 people," Pioneer Valley Hospital administrator Brian Mottishaw said Thursday.
The FBI and other agencies were involved, and they stayed until noon seeking material on their search warrants.
He said a search warrant required "all documents that were generated by, received from or sent to Columbia/HCA or its affiliations with HCA or HTI." HTI is Health Trust Inc.
The information sought was related to billing or charging various health-care plans for services.
The agents took away about two boxes of material, "just a minimal amount, really," he said. Most of the material they sought had been removed to Columbia offices within the past month as part of the transfer of ownership.
Billing records and other material had been sent to Columbia on the instigation of Paracelsus, just as a routine clearing away of prior ownership material, he said.
FBI agents gave receipts for material they took, Mottishaw said. "They inventoried everything that they took. Some of it was things like old procedure manuals and stuff like that."
Billing records "were already gone," he said.
"They were also looking at specific patient records," he said.