United States Ex Rel. Health Outcomes Technologies v. Hallmark Health System, Inc.

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

GORTON, District Judge.

On February 27, 1996, Health Outcomes Technologies, Inc. filed an action on behalf of the United States under seal in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733, alleging that 100 hospitals throughout the United States engaged in conduct to defraud the Medicare program. Specifically, the complaint alleges that the defendant hospitals misused a Medicare billing code to obtain increased reimbursements for the treatment of pneumonia patients from 1992 until 1997. The complaint seeks…