A New York City anesthesiologist who founded a chain of COVID-19 testing clinics has pleaded guilty to fraudulently billing insurance companies for services never rendered, causing at least $24 million in losses, the Justice Department said in an April 17 news release.
Ali Rashan, MD, founded and operated ClearMD, which ran several COVID-19 testing clinics throughout New York City from 2021 through 2023. Despite advertising full-service testing that included physical exams and telehealth follow-up visits, ClearMD clinics were typically staffed by untrained medical assistants with no licensed physicians on site.
Dr. Rashan directed staff to bill insurance providers for multiple services that were never performed, including evaluation and management services and multiple COVID-19 testing codes despite administering only a single test, with some patients billed as much as $5,000 for a single COVID-19 test.When insurers requested documentation to support the claims, Dr. Rashan directed staff to write software to generate fabricated patient progress notes and test results.
He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and one count of false statements relating to healthcare matters. Sentencing is scheduled for September 22.