Parsippany Medical Lab Owners Forged Doctor's Signatures in Fraud Scheme, Feds Say

The owners of a mobile diagnostic testing company based in Parsippany have been charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, United States Attorney Paul Fishman announced.

Nita K. Patel and Kirtish N. Patel, both 51, of Rockaway, allegedly forged the signatures of physicians who never read the diagnostic reports for about half the business’s clients over a two-year period, according to Federal Bureau of Investigations agent James Boazzo.

Nita Patel is the owner of Heart Solutions, and Kirtish Patel is the principle officer of Biosound Medical Services, Inc. Biosound was established in 1999, while Heart Solutions was founded in 2011. Both are located in Parsippany.

Former and current employees informed the FBI that rather than paying physicians for a reading or to interpret results of a diagnostic test, Kirtish Patel would read the results himself and Nita Patel would either photocopy or electronically cut and paste a physician’s signature onto a diagnostic report written by an employee, Boazzo said.

Biosound would then bill Medicare and other companies for performance of the testing and reading, Boazzo said.

During a search of the business on Monday, Nita Patel admitted to Boazzo that she and Kirtish Patel regularly forged photocopied physician signatures onto Biosound diagnostic test reports that were never interpreted by a referring physician, according to the FBI. Neither Patel is a certified physician.

Current and former employees also told investigators they had expressed concerns about the fraudulent practice in September 2013 and had asked to meet with the reading physicians, Boazzo said. The Patels never arranged such a meeting, Boazzo said.

An investigation also uncovered a container of cut up pieces of paper with signatures from physicians at the Biosound office, Boazzo said.

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