NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Richard Schott has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison. Schott - a dentist in Murfreesboro - operated a scheme to defraud healthcare benefit programs.
Schott and the former administrator of his practive, Kendra Glenn, were charged with conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in November 2018. Schott pleaded guilty. Glenn is scheduled for trial on December 3.
Schott owned and Operated Dental Excellence, which has three locations in Murfreesboro and one in Lebanon. From November 2013 to January 2018, Schott caused the submission of false claims to healthcare benefit programs. The claims included billing for dental work that had not been completed or performed, falsifying claims that services had been rendered by a benefits program-credentialed dentist, falsifying supporting documents and adding false narratives to support the upcoding of claims, among others. According to officials, these claims continued even after insurance companies noticed patterns of false claims and notified Schott that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation would be looking into the company's billing practices.
Officials also said Schott took steps to hide the fraud by telling employees to lie if questioned by insurance companies, and even going so far as to discipline and fire employees who questioned the questionable billing practices.
Because of Schott's scheme, many patients waited months and years in pain to have necessary dental work completed by other dentists while their insurance companies worked to resolve the false claims.
Schott was also ordered to pay $956,448 in restitution to TennCare.
