‘Holistic’ cardiologist in Santa Fe accused of fraud

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | July 2, 2015 | Mark Oswald

[CedarDave]

SANTA FE – Dr. Roy G. Heilbron, 51, a self-described “holistic” cardiologist in Santa Fe, has been charged with health care fraud and wire fraud in a 24-count federal indictment.

The indictment, announced Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Albuquerque, alleges that Heilbron executed a scheme to defraud Medicare and other health care benefit programs from January 2010 to May 2011 by submitting false and fraudulent claims.

Heilbron entered a not-guilty plea in federal court Wednesday and was released on his own recognizance. His medical license had been suspended by the New Mexico Medical Board for three months last year.

The indictment alleges that Heilbron used photocopies of patients’ records to fabricate records for others. For more than 100 patients, he reported identical results for various ultrasound tests, heartbeats per 24 hours and hypertension, the indictment said.

Web pages show that Heilbron and [ex-wife and former medical partner Dr. Angelique] Hart were affiliated with the Santa Fe Soul Center for Optimal Health. “The doctors offer a team approach and believe that doctor and patient should work as a team towards healing the body, mind & spirit,” one entry says. Heilbron, this Web page says, “specializes in holistic cardiology, internal medicine, weight management and brain chemistry balancing.”

[CedarDave]

The libs and stoners in Santa Fe completely embrace "holistic healing" and are just easy pickings for any one who flashes made-up credentials (he claims to have invented the South Beach Diet) and spouts healing using non-traditional methods.

Besides the fraud mentioned above, the indictment says he performed and billed for a wide array of unnecessary tests on every new patient, submitted false diagnoses with the billing claims to justify the tests to the insurance plans; inserted false symptoms, observations, and diagnoses into patients’ medical charts to provide written support for the tests he ordered or performed; submitted claims to health plans for procedures that were never performed; and misused billing codes and modifiers to increase his rate of reimbursement.

[CedarDave]

Definitely not the best representative of the medical profession.

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[Gamecock]

First visit? Thirty-eight bucks.

[Ken H]

Maybe I should have gotten holistic stitches instead of going to the ER last time I cut myself.

[Catmom]

Just don’t want to hear about any holistic gynecologists.