The Kansas Health Institute reported two companies agreed to pay the federal government $9.7 million. The two are: Hospital Corporation of America, owner of Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, and Lifepoint Hospitals, Inc., owner of Western Plains Medical Complex in Dodge City. The settlement is in regard to allegations that both billed over billed Medicare for an inpatient procedure that could have been done safely and more cost effectively in an out-patient setting.
The procedure in question is kyphoplasty. Kyphoplasty is used to treat compression fractures of the spine.