The company and its CEO, Dr. Anand Lalaji, must pay the federal government $2.7 million. The federal claims involve bilking federal health care programs by billing for services that didn’t meet federal standards. They must also pay about $400,000 to states that had separate claims against the company.
The suit began as a complaint by two whistleblowers. No information is available about the number of patients potentially affected. But the company’s clients include hospitals, clinics and medical practices in many states.
In comments to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a statement posted on its website, the company and Lalaji said the violations were from 2012 to 2018, and blamed them on a rogue employee who wouldn’t follow direction and was eventually fired. But the government suggested that the company should have known the reports were getting approved too fast.
A company and its CEO
The Radiology Group, based on Peachtree Road, is licensed in more than 40 states. The company’s founding visionary was Dr. Anand Lalaji, the CEO. The group touts that it “streamlines communication, increasing our speed — and customer happiness.” It also says they prioritize accuracy. The company’s website advertises average speeds for four types of reviews: at the low end, 8.43 minute turnaround times for evaluating images of a hospital stroke patient, and at the high end, 24.35 minute turnarounds for interpreting an ER CT scan.
Lalaji is a radiologist licensed to practice in approximately 20 states, according to the Federation of State Medical Boards. In responses to the AJC, he said he has 19 years of experience. But questions have been raised in at least one state about him misinterpreting scans himself, and his response in dealing with the problem.
The Kentucky Board of Medicine in November reported that Lalaji had misread several images at a hospital in that state in 2022, including missing a brain tumor. Even after the hospital worked with Lalaji to resolve the…
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