Whistleblowers Bring Credit Balance Reporting to Renewed Attention of Providers

In 2003, two former employees of East Tennessee Heart Consultants (ETHC), a large physician practice, brought a qui tam action under the False Claims Act against ETHC. The whistleblowers, who had worked as patient financial services representatives, alleged that ETHC adopted policies to avoid repaying credit balances. A credit balance is an accounting entry that…