Michael David Goodwin, DDS, owner of Amarillo, Tex-based Goodwin Orthodontics, recently plead guilty to improperly billing the Texas Medicaid Program more than $1 million for services he never provided, according to a report from the Amarillo Globe-News. Goodwin plead guilty to one count of health care fraud and faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
Goodwin admitted filing $2.6 million in billings, some of which were not medically necessary, starting in 2008.
Goodwin billed Medicaid for work done by dental assistants and booked patients at 10-minute intervals, causing the dental assistants to rush treatments. In interviews with Goodwin’s employees, investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) learned that Goodwin did not supervise his dental assistants when they performed work on patients that state law prohibited them from doing. The investigation also showed that Goodwin billed for work he supposedly did at his Amarillo office on days travel records show he was in Indiana. According to a FBI affidavit, about 95% of Goodwin’s patients were Medicaid recipients and were usually seen on a monthly basis.
Prosecutors have reportedly moved to dismiss related charges against Goodwin’s wife and office manager.
