Clinic Responds To Settlement Announcement

The Toccoa Clinic has responded to Monday’s settlement announcement.

Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced that it has reached a settlement with dermatologists Margaret Kopchick, M.D., and Russell Burken, M.D., and their practice group, Toccoa Clinic Medical Associates.

Those parties agreed collectively to pay $1.9 million to settle claims that they violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicare for evaluation and management, or E & M, services that were not permitted by Medicare rules.

In a press release issued Monday afternoon, the Clinic said that while it denies the allegations in the lawsuit, the settlement enables it to avoid the cost and uncertainty of protracted litigation against the government.

The settlement enhances Toccoa Clinic’s mission to provide the highest quality of care in northeast Georgia, while the alternative, years of litigation, would only detract from that mission, no matter its outcome, said Toccoa Clinic Managing Partner T. David Yates, M.D.

The Clinic said it is committed to compliance with all applicable rules and regulations and had implemented a state-of-the-art, clinic-wide compliance program to provide education, training, and support for Toccoa Clinic’s physicians and coding and billing staff, even prior to the settlement.

Also, it has hired an experienced, compliance professional to serve as the clinic’s Compliance Officer and entered into an agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure the Clinic remains at the cutting edge of compliance, Clinic officials said.

According to the Clinic, it already had in place many of the key features of the agreement, but additional agreement provisions will further enhance the Clinic’s compliance efforts.