High Arkansas psychiatrist accused of maintaining sufferers in opposition to their will in large Medicaid rip-off: ‘Like a jail’

A number one Arkansas psychiatrist is being investigated for falsely holding doubtlessly lots of of individuals in an enormous Medicaid rip-off — with video footage displaying him touring hospital hallways with out spending any time with sufferers.

Dr. Brian Hyatt, 50, is below investigation by state and federal authorities — and dealing with lawsuits from at the very least 26 sufferers who say they had been stored in opposition to their will, typically for weeks, in accordance with NBC Information.

Some sufferers even bought court docket orders to get freed by sheriff’s deputies, with one caught on an officer’s bodycam telling him: “Oh my gosh. You saved my life.”

“It was as if I used to be in a jail,” mother of three Shannon Williams, 52, told NBC News of being held for 5 days whereas denying she was suicidal and begging for launch.

“All I noticed of Dr. Hyatt was the again of his head within the hallway. I by no means even noticed his face,” stated Williams, who’s herself a nurse.

“It was like a nightmare. If I cried, then I used to be once more threatened with extra time,” she stated. “I used to be terrified.”

Hyatt stop as chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board in late Might after Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) brokers executed a search warrant at his personal observe, the report stated.

He was additionally “abruptly terminated” from Northwest Medical Heart in Springdale, the place he’d been the medical director of the behavioral well being unit since January 2018, tripling the variety of beds to 75.

The hospital agreed in April to pay $1.1 million in a settlement with the Arkansas Legal professional Basic’s Workplace for failing to supply enough documentation justifying the hospitalization of 246 sufferers.

AG Tim Griffin’s workplace has accused Hyatt of operating an insurance coverage rip-off, claiming to deal with sufferers he hardly ever noticed after which billing Medicaid at “the very best severity code on each affected person.”

In keeping with one search warrant affidavit, Medicaid paid out greater than $800,000 to Hyatt’s facility from January 2019 to June 2022, dwarfing these of different Arkansas psychiatrists.

“Dr. Hyatt is a transparent outlier, and his claims are so excessive they skew the averages on sure codes for all the Medicaid program in Arkansas,” the affidavit says, in accordance with NBC.

Investigators reviewed 45 days of surveillance footage from the hospital — throughout which Hyatt interacted with a affected person solely 17 occasions, for a complete of lower than 10 minutes, in accordance with a report by the AG.

Charlie Robbins, a spokesman for the US Legal professional’s Workplace for the Western District of Arkansas, stated the execution of its personal search warrant was “an necessary step in any prolonged, ongoing investigation.”

Not less than 26 individuals are suing him, alleging that they had been held in opposition to their will in his unit for days and typically weeks, with a lawyer within the case saying he expects extra to return ahead.

“I believe that they had been operating a scheme to carry folks so long as attainable, to invoice their insurance coverage so long as attainable earlier than kicking them out the door, after which filling the mattress with another person,” lawyer Aaron Money informed NBC Information.

Hyatt has not been charged and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

When he stop as chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board, he stated he was “not resigning due to any wrongdoing on my half however in order that the Board might proceed its necessary work at once or distraction.”

“I’ll proceed to defend myself within the correct discussion board in opposition to the false allegations being made in opposition to me,” he stated on the time.

His authorized workforce additionally told Arkansas Business final month that “Dr. Hyatt continues to take care of his innocence and denies the allegations made in opposition to him.”

“Regardless of his profession as an excellent clinician, Dr. Hyatt has develop into the goal of a vicious, orchestrated assault on his character and repair,” his legal professionals stated. “He seems to be ahead to defending himself in court docket,” they stated, predicting fees.

Hyatt’s authorized workforce maintained that he “didn’t mistreat sufferers” and “adopted the rules” of Medicaid billing “as he understands them.”

“Medicaid billing is an advanced, and never all the time constantly administered, system that doesn’t make it simple for suppliers,” they stated.

Northwest Medical Heart additionally denied any wrongdoing in its $1.1 million settlement with the Arkansas Legal professional Basic’s Workplace.

“We imagine hospital personnel complied in all respects with Arkansas regulation, which closely depends on the treating doctor’s evaluation of the affected person, together with in selections associated to involuntary dedication,” stated the hospital’s spokesperson, Aimee Morrell.

The hospital has, nonetheless, taken “a lot of actions to make sure our sufferers’ security, together with hiring new suppliers answerable for the scientific care of our behavioral well being sufferers,” she stated.