Maryland physician convicted for $15M COVID-19 healthcare fraud scheme

Maryland physician Ron Elfenbein, MD, has been convicted by a federal jury for submitting over $15 million in false and fraudulent claims for patients who were tested for COVID-19 at his testing sites.

Dr. Elfenbein was an owner and the medical director of Drs ERgent Care LLC, dba First Call Medical Center and Chesapeake ERgent Care, according to an Aug. 4 news release from the Justice Department.

His company operated multiple drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites in Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties, where he instructed employees to bill Medicare and a commercial insurer for high-level evaluation and management visits in addition to COVID-19 testing.

This led to the submission of millions of dollars of claims for tens of thousands of high-level visits that were not provided as represented and were not eligible for reimbursement, the release said.

Dr. Elfenbein was convicted of five counts of healthcare fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 7.

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