ALBANY, N.Y., December 4 – Signature Health Center, LLC, a diagnostic and treatment center in the Bronx and Hempstead, Long Island, received $1.3 million in Medicaid overpayments, according to an audit released by the Office of the State Comptroller.

Signature, which offers a wide variety of medical services, including orthopedic, chiropractic, gynecological, podiatric, and general medicine, received $25 million between January 1, 2001 and May, 2006 for nearly 195,000 Medicaid claims, the audit found. The company also failed to disclose that the separate Medicare program had paid money toward many claims.

The audit found:

Large quantities of seemingly unnecessary services to individual patients;

Petitioners billing for services that would add up to more than 24 hours per day;

Repeated instances where duplicate claims were submitted for payment;

Claims billed at higher than allowable rates.

Based on the findings in the audit, and its own findings, the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) terminated Signatures participation in the Medicaid program.

OMIG also found that Signature was billing Medicaid for services ordered by non-enrolled providers, made false statements on ownership applications, and offered patients excessive services.

The comptrollers audit found that Signature over-billed Medicaid for many patients who were double-eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid, amounting to overpayments of about $831,000 and estimated potential overpayments of another $455,000.

This issue was turned over to the attorney general for investigation.

In addition, podiatrists reportedly wrote 164 prescriptions outside their expertise for such problems as erectile dysfunction, acid reflux, sleep disorders, elevated cholesterol, and depression.

In responding to the audit, the New York State Department of Health said that OMIG, in addition to terminating Signatures Medicaid privileges, will investigate the payments identified by the audit and establish recoveries where appropriate.