Columbus –A Dayton home health provider owes the state nearly $4 million after state auditors unearthed widespread noncompliance among staff who worked directly with patients. 

Healing Touch Health Care Ltd. claimed $8.5 million in Medicaid reimbursement from the state from 2013 through 2015, but auditors determined $3.7 million of that amount was an overpayment – the second largest amount in a Medicaid examination since Auditor Yost took office in 2011. 

The determination was based on 783 errors found during testing of 1,500 services administered by the company during the review period. With interest, the provider owes the state over $3.9 million. 

In an initial sample of 11 aides who administered personal care services, auditors found six lacked first aid certification and the remaining five had lapses during the review period. Due to the extent of the noncompliance, the review was expanded to include an additional 37 aides who provided services.

Auditors determined that 16 of the 37 employees had no first aid certification and another 17 had lapses. In total, 106 of 154 (69%)  personal care services tested were administered by one of the 44 employees who were ineligible on the dates of service.

“Trust is the most important factor when picking a care provider for a loved one,” Auditor Yost said. “How can anyone trust a company that lets over 90 percent of its personal care aides care for patients without the required certification?”

The company blamed the training organizations for the errors, saying its employees were issued the wrong cards, which certified the completion of basic life support and CPR training but did not list any first aid credit. The training centers told auditors that they had no record of the employees completing first aid training. 

After receiving a draft report, Healing Touch submitted additional cards certifying the completion of first aid training. However, the training instructors again said their records did not support the cards supplied by the provider. 

In another significant finding, auditors discovered that 430 of 1,325 services tested were submitted to the state for reimbursement before the provider obtained a physician’s authorization on a plan of care. For an additional 76 services, the plans of care did not authorize the services provided. The provider also lacked documentation to support another 27 billed services. 

The findings have been referred to the Ohio Attorney General.

A full copy of this report is available online. 

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio, is responsible for auditing more than 5,900 state and local government agencies.  Under the direction of Auditor Dave Yost, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies and promotes transparency in government.

Contact:
Beth Gianforcaro
Press Secretary
614-644-1111