MedQuist resolves False Claims Act investigation

MedQuist, the world’s largest Medical Transcription Service Organization, has settled federal False Claims Act litigation filed in connection with the company’s provision of medical transcription services to both governmental and non-governmental customers. The settlement was negotiated among the Department of Justice, two individual whistleblowers and MedQuist. The company, which provides medical transcription services to the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Public Health Service, is alleged by the Department of Justice to have knowingly overbilled for its services from 1998 through 2004. DOJ alleges that MedQuist—based in Mount Laurel, New Jersey—failed to bill in compliance with a transcription industry billing standard known as the “AAMT line.”

The sizable settlement will be shared with two whistleblowers who filed Qui Tam suits on the government’s behalf. Under the federal False Claims Act, a private citizen is permitted to file a fraud claim against a corporation to recover funds owed to the government and to share in the recovery. Under that statute, both Christopher Foley and Susan Purdue will receive substantial awards.

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