TelevisitMD owner Christopher Harwood, 44, was sentenced to 20 years for a $46.2 million Medicare fraud built on braces and genetic tests patients did not need.

A Fort Lauderdale man who owned a telemedicine company was sentenced Friday to 20 years in federal prison for leading a $46.2 million Medicare fraud conspiracy. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the sentence the same day.

Christopher Harwood, 44, owned and operated a telemedicine company called TelevisitMD, the department said. The conspiracy ran for more than six years.

The court also ordered him to pay:

  • $17,942,402 in restitution to Medicare
  • $10,431,463 in forfeiture

Harwood pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. The Justice Department announced that plea on March 27.

How the fraud worked, according to the department

The Justice Department set out the fraud in its release. According to court documents, Harwood and his co-conspirators:

  • targeted Medicare patients through aggressive telemarketing campaigns
  • persuaded them to accept orthotic braces and genetic tests they did not need
  • paid doctors to approve orders for the braces and tests
  • sold the signed orders to medical equipment suppliers, laboratories and marketers who were part of the conspiracy

The doctors did not follow Medicare’s rules for telemedicine visits, the department said. They had no real medical relationship with the patients and often signed orders without any meaningful contact with them.

Harwood also owned and ran several Florida-based medical equipment supply companies. The department said he used them to bill Medicare millions of dollars for braces patients did not want or need.

The money

The department said Harwood caused $46.2 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare. Medicare paid $17.9 million on those claims. Harwood personally made more than $10.4 million, it said.

Bar chart of the TelevisitMD case in millions of dollars: $46.2 million in false claims to Medicare, $17.9 million paid by Medicare and $10.4 million kept by Christopher Harwood, according to the Justice Department.
Chart by Fort Lauderdale Journal, from the Justice Department's Oct. 23 release.
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The FBI and the Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services investigated the case. Trial Attorney Owen Dunn of the Justice Department’s Health Care Fraud Section prosecuted it. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the FBI Miami Field Office joined the announcement.

What it means for you

In this case, Medicare patients were reached through telemarketing calls, the Justice Department said.

Medicare’s own guidance on reporting fraud and abuse lists warning signs, including a bill for a brace you never got. It suggests checking each Medicare Summary Notice for items you did not order.

To report suspected fraud:

For local police and fire news, see our Police and Fire log.

This story reports a sentence announced by the U.S. Department of Justice. Questions or corrections go to our contact page.