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The previous chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board has been arrested on two felony prices of Medicaid fraud, authorities stated.
Police in Rogers arrested Brian Thomas Hyatt, 49, a Rogers psychiatrist, on Monday, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. He was being held within the Benton County Jail for the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Workplace with no bond set, in line with on-line jail information. A phone name searching for remark from his legal professional, Erin Cassinelli, was not instantly returned Tuesday.
In a press release, Legal professional Basic Tim Griffin stated Hyatt’s arrest got here after a Pulaski County district courtroom choose signed a warrant from his workplace.
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“Previous to Dr. Hyatt’s arrest by the Rogers Police Division, prosecutors from my workplace and protection counsel had already reached an settlement for Dr. Hyatt’s give up and look in courtroom. We’re honoring that prior settlement and look ahead to his look in Pulaski County courtroom later this month,” Griffin stated in a press release.
Hyatt was appointed to the medical board by then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson in January 2019. He stepped down as board chairman in March and however maintained his seat on the board till Might, the newspaper reported.
Hyatt denied any wrongdoing in his Might 16 resignation letter.
The previous chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board has been arrested on two Medicaid fraud prices.
“I’m not resigning due to any wrongdoing on my half, however in order that the board could proceed its essential work at once or distraction,” Hyatt stated. “I’ll proceed to defend myself within the correct discussion board in opposition to the false allegations being made in opposition to me.”
State and federal authorities have launched investigations following allegations of fraud by Hyatt.
U.S. Legal professional Clay Fowlkes, who represents the Western District of Arkansas, confirmed in Might that brokers with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration searched Hyatt’s workplace in Rogers. The legal professional common’s workplace was contacted in April 2022 by a whistleblower from the behavioral well being unit of Northwest Medical Middle-Springdale, in line with the affidavit used to acquire that search warrant.
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Hyatt had been the medical director of the unit since January 2018. His contract with the medical heart was “abruptly terminated” in Might 2022, in line with the affidavit.
Griffin stated in March that Northwest Arkansas Hospitals had agreed to pay the state greater than $1 million in reference to 246 Medicaid claims primarily based on medical evaluations, diagnoses and supporting documentation licensed by Hyatt and nonphysician suppliers working beneath his management and supervision. That settlement got here after an audit by the Arkansas Basis for Medical Care, a state contractor, discovered documentation offered for the claims “didn’t justify or help the medical necessity requirement for hospitalizations,” Griffin stated in a information launch asserting the settlement.
The Workplace of Medicaid Inspector Basic suspended all funds for Medicaid providers to Hyatt after figuring out there was a “credible allegation of fraud” in opposition to him, in line with a Feb. 24 letter the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette obtained beneath the Arkansas Freedom of Info Act.
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As well as, Hyatt faces a number of civil lawsuits. One, filed in March in Washington County Circuit Courtroom, accuses him and others of unlawfully holding sufferers in Northwest Medical Middle-Springdale’s behavioral well being unit “to fraudulently invoice their personal medical health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or different relevant insurance coverage protection for alleged care and remedy that was not offered.”
Former Arkansas State Medical Board chairman arrested on Medicaid fraud prices
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