From March 4, 2016, through June 25, 2020, Hu routinely directed CAH employees to bill for one hour of acupuncture services, even though sessions lasted no longer than 30 to 45 minutes, with many ending after 15 minutes.
The former employees said that when they challenged Hu about this, she rebuffed them and said to continue documenting services as one hour. Some former employees said they quit over the billing practices.
Investigators also found that the clinics billed for months — and on one occasion years — after clients stopped receiving services at the clinics.
CAH also billed for acupuncture services provided in a client’s home without the required prior authorization for a home visit, used acupuncture billing codes to bill for services that were not covered acupuncture services, and used the credentials of another acupuncturist to bill for services provided to clients with a particular insurance company after the company excluded CAH from its network.
Hu also regularly signed, and directed others to sign, verifications for language interpreter services that did not happen, the investigation found.
