Patients claim disgraced US doctor ran hospital unit like a jail, trapping them while scamming Medicaid.
An Alleged Medicaid Scam: Arkansas Psychiatrist Accused of Holding Patients Against Their Will
An alleged Medicaid scam is currently under investigation, involving an Arkansas psychiatrist who is being accused of holding people against their will while billing Medicaid for exorbitant sums.
The Arkansas Attorney General’s office is actively looking into the case of Dr. Brian Hyatt, who is facing lawsuits from at least 26 individuals claiming they were held in his unit at Northwest Medical Center, as reported by the Daily Mail.
The allegations against Dr. Hyatt include billing Medicaid for treatments that were never actually administered.
A House of Horrors: Patients Trapped and Exploited
According to attorney Monte Sharits, who represents one of the patients suing Dr. Hyatt, the situation was nothing short of a nightmare. Patients were trapped in the facility, unaware of their rights, and cut off from the outside world, with little hope of rescue or assistance, as stated in an article by Insider.
Insider further reported that the staff at the facility would go to extreme lengths to keep patients confined, resorting to coercion, threats, and sedation. Phone privileges were frequently revoked to prevent communication with loved ones or legal representation.
One patient even claimed that Dr. Hyatt wrote 45 pages of notes about her, describing her as “unkept and unstable,” despite never having met her.
Exploitative Billing Practices and Lack of Patient Care
The Arkansas Attorney General’s office, in a search warrant affidavit, accused Dr. Hyatt of consistently billing Medicaid at the highest severity code for every patient, even if he barely spent any time with them. A report prepared for the office revealed that Dr. Hyatt claimed to conduct daily in-person evaluations, but a whistleblower stated that he only spent a few minutes each day and had no contact with patients, according to the affidavit.
Attorney Aaron Cash, who represents patient William VanWhy, described the scheme as an attempt to keep patients in the facility for as long as possible, maximizing insurance billing before releasing them and filling the bed with someone else, as reported by NBC.
Investigation Findings: Lack of Patient Interactions
During the course of a 45-day video investigation, it was discovered that Dr. Hyatt had only interacted with patients for a total of less than 10 minutes, despite billing for numerous patient interactions. The affidavit stated that the vast majority of patients under his care never had a single conversation with him.
According to the affidavit, claims submitted by Dr. Hyatt and his non-physician providers indicated that no patient in the behavioral unit at Northwest Medical Center showed any signs of improvement until the day of their release.
Contemptuous Communication and Aftermath
Attorney Aaron Cash shared an email exchange with Dr. Hyatt regarding patient Karla Adrian-Caceres, whom he fought to release from the facility in 2022. In one email, Dr. Hyatt responded with contempt, mocking Cash’s educational background. After Adrian-Caceres was finally released, another email arrived from Dr. Hyatt, further displaying his unprofessional behavior.
The full story can be found in the article “Disgraced US Doctor Ran Hospital Unit Like Jail, Patients Say They Were Kept Prisoner as He Scammed Medicaid” on The Western Journal.
Top Arkansas psychiatrist accused of keeping patients against their will in huge Medicaid scam: ‘Like a prison’ #drbrianhyatt https://t.co/xgi7hYs8q7
— Eerie News (@EerieNewsToday) July 24, 2023
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