A Niles doctor accused of improperly billing federal healthcare agencies has agreed to pay more than $61,000 to the federal government following the filing of a lawsuit by a former employee.

A settlement agreement filed in federal court in Cleveland, signed by orthopaedic surgeon Michael Jurenovich, went into effect Nov. 25, and was recently unsealed. It states it does not relinquish Jurenovich of any potential criminal liability.

Jurenovich’s attorney, Gerald Ingram, said he does not believe his client will face any criminal charges.

Of the $61,000, the federal government has agreed to distribute more than $7,000 to the Ohio Medicaid program and more than $9,000 to the former employee who filed the lawsuit, Melinda Hillier.

According to a complaint filed in October 2014, Hillier, who worked as a medical assistant for Jurenovich at his Youngstown Warren Road office, refused to doctor documents to indicate patients were in the office on days they were not and was the target of unfair treatment following her refusal to do so.

The complaint states the office would see patients for pain, give them a cortisone shot and then ask medical assistants to create documents that showed the patient was in the office twice for the problem, once for the visit with the doctor and often the next day for the shot.

Medicare does not allow providers who conduct an office visit and give a cortisone shot on the same day submit a claim for each service’s full value if billed separately, but instead file a claim for just the office visit, the complaint states. If, however, the visit and shot happen on different days, the provider can submit a claim for each for full reimbursement.

According to the complaint, several of Jurenovich’s patients confirmed they were not in the office on the dates Medicare, Medicaid or Tricare were billed for the shots and some patients called the office wondering why their invoices were wrong. The complaint states the office would offer to remove the patient’s co-pay or tell them it was a mistake.

“So brazen is the scheme that defendants regularly indicate on encounter sheets and (charts) that injections have been administered in a particular office on dates on which it would have been physically impossible for defendant Jurenovich to have done so, because, for example, he was working out of one of his other offices on those dates,” the complaint states.

Hillier’s performance reviews were positive before the spring of 2013, when she “refused to enter any information about patients on the notes that bore fraudulent dates, dates on which she knew the patients had not actually been seen in the office,” the complaint states. After, she was refused breaks, expected to transport charts with no reimbursement, transferred to the Greenville office and then fired, the complaint states.

Subodh Chandra, Hillier’s attorney said his client does not want to comment on the case. The complaint seeks double back pay, reinstatement to her position, attorney’s fees and damages.

Jurenovich said Hillier’s complaint was the result of “sour grapes” from her firing and declined comment to further.

The complaint names three of Jurenovich’s employees, but the three were not involved in the settlement agreement, according to the court documents. Jurenovich also has offices in Greenville, Pa,. and in Andover.

The settlement states Jurenovich could end up owing the government more money if more improper billing is discovered.

rfox@tribtoday.com.