A Fort Worth, Texas cardiologist has been charged in an $89 million healthcare fraud scheme involving medically unnecessary cardiovascular screening tests on college student athletes, including one who died of sudden cardiac arrest approximately 24 days after the physician allegedly approved his test results as normal in about 11 seconds, the Justice Department said in a June 23 news release.
Jason Finkelstein, MD, faces charges of healthcare fraud and conspiracy in what prosecutors describe as a yearslong scheme that preyed on the fears of athletes that they could die on playing fields of sudden cardiac arrest. Dr. Finkelstein was a full-time physician with Advanced Heart Care in Decatur, Texas, and also served as medical director of a Boca Raton-based cardiovascular testing company that sent technicians to college campuses across the country.
As the only referring provider on the claims, Dr. Finkelstein allegedly never personally examined the athletes. To bypass insurance requirements for medical necessity, he allegedly submitted phony diagnoses of conditions such as hypertension that the athletes did not actually have. His company relied on sonographers who lacked the requisite credentials, and because Dr. Finkelstein was licensed in 48 states, his companies were able to submit claims for patients nationwide.
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