A nurse in Kansas filed a lawsuit against her former employer claiming the hospital falsified patient arrival times at the emergency room to maximize reimbursements.

Former Lawrence Memorial Hospital nurse Megen Duffy filed the federal False Claims Act lawsuit against the hospital in 2014, alleging the hospital misreported arrival times for patients with chest pain in order to maximize the amount of reimbursement money from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Recently, District Court Judge Sam A. Crow dismissed the lawsuit on grounds there was no proof that any data reported by the hospital impacted its Medicare reimbursement.

Russ Johnson, President and CEO of the hospital, defended the hospital's practices and procedures, adding that the lawsuit was expensive and time consuming.

"It has cost this community hospital over one million dollars," Johnson said in a news release. "That is money that could have been used for providing care and services to people who need them so much. That is the real tragedy in this frivolous lawsuit."

—Source: ljworld.com