Frier Levitt partners Guillermo Beades and Todd Brower have been featured in a Hospice News article, “Health Care Attorneys: Hospice Investigations Coming From All Sides.” The article explores the rising number of audits and investigations on hospices and the implications that follow. Guillermo and Todd share insights on the issue, highlighting the common subjects of investigations and the necessary steps hospices must take to respond to investigations responsibly.
Guillermo emphasizes that enforcement actions are typically falling under fraud, waste and abuse in two categories. He explains, “One of them is providing worthless services…Another area is — whether it’s purposeful, whether it’s because of a lack of documentation — is people being put on hospice when they don’t qualify for it.”
Todd expands further, discussing the pitfalls hospices can step into with regard to the subject of medical necessity. He states, “There are situations where, especially in hospice, the medical necessity is just becoming a big focus, because, unfortunately, there are people in the industry — hospice providers and other types of providers and vendors — that identify those services that are compensated or reimbursed at really high levels, and they just target it.” Importantly, Todd notes how this activity will come back negatively from a compliance standpoint, and providers need to be aware of it.
The article continues to highlight other crucial details regarding this matter, including factors that trigger investigations and how hospices should respond when faced with audits from Medicare contractors and more.
Read the article here: https://hospicenews.com/2025/07/08/health-care-attorneys-hospice-investigations-coming-from-all-sides/
