Thursday, June 21, 2012

OCEAN DENTAL is throwing their dentists to the wolves.

To ALL Dentists!
So you want to work for a corporate dental chain? Better think twice. Dr. Robin Lockwood is now facing 10 years in prison and $250,000 fine all for trying to meet those production quotas. What are you doing to meet yours?

June 21, 2012

OKLAHOMA CITY—Robin R Lockwood, 44, a dentist from Oklahoma City, has been charged with committing health care fraud, announced Sanford C Coats, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Lockwood is a dentist licensed to practice in the state of Oklahoma and was employed under contract by Ocean Dental at offices located at 1610 Southwest 74th Avenue, Oklahoma City. Ocean Dental’s dentists provided dental care to Medicaid-eligible children. The Medicaid Program is a cooperative program that provides federal and state funds to pay for health care benefits for individuals with insufficient incomes to meet the costs of necessary medical expenses. In Oklahoma, Medicaid is administered as “SoonerCare” by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA), a state governmental agency.

 



Ocean Dental submitted claims to the OHCA for reimbursement of dentists’ services based on patient treatment notes created by the dentists. Ocean Dental paid Lockwood a percentage of the funds that OHCA reimbursed to Ocean Dental for services she personally rendered.

The information alleges that from July 12, 2007 through December 31, 2010, Lockwood engaged in a scheme to defraud Medicaid by submitting claims for dental services that she did not provide. Specifically, it is alleged that Lockwood recorded in the patient’s treatment notes that she had placed dental restorations on certain teeth when, in fact, she had not treated the teeth at all. It is also alleged that on other teeth, Lockwood recorded that she had placed dental restorations on more surfaces of the tooth than she had, in fact, restored or recorded that she had placed a dental restoration on the tooth when, in fact, she had placed on the tooth a type of treatment that is non-reimbursable by Medicaid.
Relying upon Lockwood’s treatment notes, Ocean Dental submitted claims for reimbursement to Medicaid and paid Lockwood a percentage of those reimbursements. It is alleged that Lockwood used the proceeds of the fraud for her own personal benefit.

If convicted, Lockwood faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
These charges are the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda Maxfield Green.

The public is reminded that an information is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty. Reference is made to the information and other public filings for further information.
Reported by: FBI