Corporate Compliance

NJ hospital fails in attempt to have whistleblower case dismissed

Compliance Monitor, May 13, 2009

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On May 11, the United States District Court in New Jersey denied Robert Wood Johnson University (RWJU) Hospital’s request to dismiss a whistleblower lawsuit that alleges the hospital improperly inflated inpatient care costs in order to receive outlier payments.
 
The hospital argued the whistleblower case, filed a case in 2002, lacked legal merit and did not meet the statute of limitations. The court disagreed.
 
According to court documents, from 1998 to 2001 RWJU Hospital’s outlier payments jumped from $1 million annually to $18 million. The DOJ alleges RWJU was fully aware of the “turbocharging” scheme and continued to inflate charges until the end of 2001, when outlier payments dropped back to their 1997 levels.
 
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) joined the case against in January 2008 according to DOJ release. The DOJ also joined two similar cases against New Jersey hospitals at that time.



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