The other doctor of Lake Forest, Illinois was charged in November with fraudulently billing Medicare for thousands of nonexistent visits to patients, many elderly at their residences, nursing homes and hospitals. He also allegedly claimed to have treated 49 patients during a blizzard in early 1999 and 32 patients after their deaths. His attorney blamed sloppy billing and record-keeping by the doctor. The Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board which regulates hospital expansion and big-ticket equipment purchases, is evaluating the quality of all cardiac services in Illinois and to see if there is overlap. Illinois has about 90 hospital catheterization labs with 3 requests for new labs pending.
Hospitals claim the facilities are needed with the aging population and the rise of heart disease.
For Illinois, Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act , see Public Act 91-0617 . This is basically a section stating the Illinois public policy that health care providers are to be patient advocates . In this section look at Protest decisions, reasonable peer review, etc. Access to specialists . Health care services appeals, complaints, and external independent reviews .