Recently, Daphne Jenkins, a Virginia-based nurse practitioner, was sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release for her role in a $7.8 million telemedicine fraud scheme. Jenkins was also ordered to pay $3,952,761 in restitution. The sentencing follows her November 2023 guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
According to the Department of Justice, between December 2018 and April 2020, Jenkins worked with a supposed telemedicine company to sign orders for durable medical equipment (DME) that were not medically necessary, including orthotics such as back braces and knee braces. The DME orders were pre-populated by telemarketing companies that called Medicare beneficiaries to get their information. Jenkins signed the orders through DocuSign, though she did not have any contact with the beneficiaries – including no patient-provider relationship.
There were instances where Jenkins signed the DME orders without reading them, including one time where the packet was 16 pages long and included multiple orders for orthotics. Jenkins signed her name 12 times and completed the orders in roughly 32 seconds. In another instance, the packet was 37 pages long with multiple orthotics orders. That packet was signed by Jenkins in 45 seconds, in 24 spots. After Jenkins signed the orders, the telemarketing company sold them to DME suppliers, who in turn submitted claims to Medicare. As a result of Jenkins’ participation in the scheme, more than $7.8 million in claims were submitted to Medicare for DME that were medically unnecessary.
As noted above, Jenkins was sentenced to 18 months in prison and two years of supervised release, in addition to nearly $4 million in restitution. The first year of supervised release is to be served in home confinement.