A Fort Lauderdale telemedicine executive was sentenced to 20 years in prison for orchestrating a scheme that funneled millions of dollars in bogus Medicare claims through his own company, pocketing more than $10 million for himself along the way. Christopher Harwood, owner of TelevisitMD, had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud after prosecutors said he paid doctors to sign off on medically unnecessary orthotic braces and genetic tests for patients they never properly examined.
According to WPEC, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that Harwood was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for a Medicare fraud scheme that generated more than $46 million in false claims. A Department of Justice release described the operation as a $46.2 million conspiracy that spanned more than six years, though the exact sentencing date and full text of that release could not be independently verified beyond a search snippet.
Per Arnold & Porter, Harwood and his telemedicine company targeted Medicare beneficiaries through aggressive telemarketing practices, then paid physicians to approve orders for braces and genetic tests without legitimate telehealth encounters or any meaningful patient relationship. Those signed orders were then sold to durable medical equipment suppliers and laboratories, including entities Harwood himself owned, which billed Medicare for the unnecessary items.
Millions Paid Out Before the Scheme Unraveled
The same report from Arnold & Porter states that Medicare ultimately paid approximately $17.9 million on the fraudulent claims generated by the scheme. Harwood personally received more than $10 million from the operation, the firm’s account of the case notes…