Dr. Scott Saffold, of Virginia Beach, and his practice, Chesapeake Bay ENT, P.C. (Chesapeake Bay), located in Belle Haven, have agreed to pay $625,000 to settle a civil fraud case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia announced today.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Saffold and his medical practice engaged in a routine and systematic scheme of falsely billing government health care programs for procedures that were not medically necessary.
The department alleged that Saffold and Chesapeake Bay improperly billed federal and state payors for balloon sinus dilations, which were often performed on six sinuses per patient even when there was no medical indication of need for some or all of the dilated sinuses.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Saffold and Chesapeake Bay staged these procedures by performing each side of the sinuses separately to increase reimbursement from government payers.
Additionally, the office alleged that Saffold and Chesapeake Bay routinely billed government payors for endoscopies with sphenoid sinusoscopy, despite not actually performing the procedures as coded.