In my last post I gave numbers of referrals to and from local Doctors. I have researched the data, and according to the website, the numbers come from the Federal Government. I can not confirm the source, but it appears to be based on Medicare billing.
I have recently been directed by a government official to a Wall Street Journal site that posts the amount doctors billed Medicare for in 2012. According to an official from CMS, it is easier to navigate than the CMS site. According to the Wall Street Journal website, Dr. Larry Joe Russell billed Medicare for 5000 patient visits. That's ninety six visits a week if he works fifty two weeks a year. Keep in mind that Dr. Russell also accepts Medicaid ,private insurance and cash patients. That's a lot of patients. According to the Wall Street Journal Page, Dr. Russell saw more Medicare patients than all but two other doctors in the county.
According to the NC Medical Board, in 2012 Dr. Russell supervised nine nurse practitioners, and one physicians assistant. Using the information from the Wall Street Journal website together with Dr. Russell this group had 13,575 patient visits. That's 261 patient visits a week, and that's a conservative number based on the information provided. Keep in mind that they also see patients other than Medicare. According to the website that totals around $856,893.04 Medicare dollars. That's $16,478.71 cents a week, not considering any business other than Medicare.
In my opinion, that seems excessive at any level. I understand that doctors, nurses and physicians assistants have a right to make a living. It just stands out that according to the WSJ website, Dr. Russell was the number one Medicare biller under family practice physicians, with over $419,425.00 in 2012. Next look at physicians assistants, Martha K. Hoffman, Dr. Russell's Pa. is second on the list with $60,089.00. Last if you look at nurse practitioners, Denise Hunt was #1 at 138,333.00 , #2 was Linda Brooks at $104,658.00, # 4 was Deborah Whitmire Pittillo at $62,461.00 and at #5 was Alicia K Younger at $45,772.00. Four out of the top five Medicare billers are supervised by Dr. Larry J Russell.
Out of two hundred family practice physicians, Dr. Russell is the thirteenth highest Medicare biller in the State of North Carolina. I realize that this doesn't actually prove anything illegal. I don't know Dr. Russell personally, but I know people who do. Based on what I do know, Dr. Russell is not seeing all these patients as a community service. I also know that he does not actually " see " all of these patients.
Does all of this information prove Dr. Russell is breaking any laws ? I've been told that it does not. Should the authorities be watching him, I would hope so. I would assume that if you were going to audit a certain group, you would look real hard at the number one on the list.
If Dr. Russell is your doctor, you might want to reconsider what you are getting for your money. The numbers above are Medicare only. If you are not one of those 261 Medicare patients, then you are somewhere between 262, and ????
Here is the link to the Wall Street Journal website mentioned above. Just out of curiosity, put your doctor in and see how he ranks next to Dr. Larry Joe Russell.
http://projects.wsj.com/medicarebilling
Also, for the record, I have still not received any response from Aldona Vos, Pat McCrory or anyone else that received my letter. The letter was sent out on April 24, 2014.
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