can i be held responsible?

What is the name of your state? California

If my company made a mistake and company's client sues for potential damages, can i be held responsible financially or otherwise?

lili2000 said:

What is the name of your state? California

If my company made a mistake and company's client sues for potential damages, can i be held responsible financially or otherwise?

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**A: it depends entirely on the circumstances.

HomeGuru said:

**A: it depends entirely on the circumstances.

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It is a medical billing co. Client is a dr....data entry error that can jeopardize dr's license. Error was ongoing and started well before I got hired. Obviously, I was not the one who made the data entry error, but I didn't catch it during my employment...On my scheduled last day with this company client was WAY upset and my company is not sure how to correct such error for such long time. I am no longer with them, but just wanna make sure that I am ok on the long run. My company probably will tell client that i was fired, which is not true, but that does not concern me. Should I worry?

lili2000 said:

It is a medical billing co. Client is a dr....data entry error that can jeopardize dr's license. Error was ongoing and started well before I got hired. Obviously, I was not the one who made the data entry error, but I didn't catch it during my employment...On my scheduled last day with this company client was WAY upset and my company is not sure how to correct such error for such long time. I am no longer with them, but just wanna make sure that I am ok on the long run. My company probably will tell client that i was fired, which is not true, but that does not concern me. Should I worry?

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Any useful response would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Keep your shirt on, lili. It was the weekend and we're all volunteers here. We have lives and families and other things to do.

Based SOLELY on the information on your post, the only thing you can be held liable for is failing to catch the error. But you've not provided us with very many details, so you can't take that as a guarantee.

cbg said:

Keep your shirt on, lili. It was the weekend and we're all volunteers here. We have lives and families and other things to do.

Based SOLELY on the information on your post, the only thing you can be held liable for is failing to catch the error. But you've not provided us with very many details, so you can't take that as a guarantee.

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You are right. I apologize for my inpatience, I truly appreciate that you're devoting time to answer people's questions. What happened was is our data entry person automatically used wrong diagnosis for patients and bills were sent to Medicare and claims got paid. I took the account over shortly after I got hired (a year and a half ago) NEVER realizing the existing error. Since everything is done electronically, and I was not the one receiving and posting payments, if an account was paid I didn't spend time to audit it as this client was a big account and time wouldn't allow to audit every single account. Account reps (such as me) are relying on data entry for correct and true information. Because of changes in my life I gave notice to leave the company a month ago and on my last day at work the client realized how serious this error really was and he brought it to our attenion. Needless to say, he was screaming. I expect that my boss will blame me for almost everything because I was leaving anyway, so "it doesn't matter". Also, client is in touch with account rep only and thinks that I did everything from data entry to posting and collections. If my boss says I was fired, it may calm client down until something else triggers legal action against my former employer. If that happens how liable would I be? Could I be dragged into any legal battle? I hope I explained the situation well enough and thank you again for your help!

There's no way anyone can give you a guarantee. I don't know how reasonable or unreasonable, under company policy and industry standards, it would be to expect you to have audited the account or caught the error. If it would be reasonable for them to have expected you to caught it, then you may have a problem. If it wouldn't be reasonable, then you're probably okay. That's the best and only answer I can give you.

Lilli, MUCH depends on how the government wishes to proceed - whether they're going to pursue your employer on a criminal basis for Medicare fraud or take other legal action and if that happens, how the "stuff" is going to hit the fan for your employer and whether they'll be looking for scapegoats - and whether that will even matter from legal liability perspective for the company. I tend to doubt that pleading ignorance won't get them too far as in essence they'll be saying "We did such a lousy job, were such bad managers, and had such poor controls in place we had no idea what was going on." Handling Medicaid/Medicare billing is a serious matter and not something to be done on a half-assed basis by any organization.

You may want to consult with several attorneys now just to have someone identified in advance who can represent you if the need arises. Other than that, you're completely in wait and see mode. The ball is in someone else's court. Good luck.

Beth3 said:

Lilli, MUCH depends on how the government wishes to proceed - whether they're going to pursue your employer on a criminal basis for Medicare fraud or take other legal action and if that happens, how the "stuff" is going to hit the fan for your employer and whether they'll be looking for scapegoats - and whether that will even matter from legal liability perspective for the company. I tend to doubt that pleading ignorance won't get them too far as in essence they'll be saying "We did such a lousy job, were such bad managers, and had such poor controls in place we had no idea what was going on." Handling Medicaid/Medicare billing is a serious matter and not something to be done on a half-assed basis by any organization.

You may want to consult with several attorneys now just to have someone identified in advance who can represent you if the need arises. Other than that, you're completely in wait and see mode. The ball is in someone else's court. Good luck.

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Thank you.....Just one more question: should Medicare issue an audit on this doctor 2-3 years from now, can it still effect me at that time?