KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Creekview Health and Rehabilitation, a Knoxville nursing home, mishandled more than $250,000 in the accounts of deceased or discharged patients, according to a report from the Tennessee Comptroller's Office.
The report showed that the nursing home failed to refund accounts totaling $265,000 for 81 patients. Around $126,000 of that money is due back to former Medicaid residents, with the rest being owed back to the Medicaid program, according to the report.
"Management did not maintain evidence that staff notified former residents or their authorized representative of refunds due to them," the report said.
According to the report, Creekview included over $18,000 in non-allowable expenses and $87 in expenses that should have been reported in subsidiary cost centers on its Medicare Cost Report.
"The $18,519.28 total of nonallowable expenses and the $87.35 in expenses that should have been reported in ancillary cost centers may affect the Medicaid reimbursement rate since 2022 was a rebase year," according to the report.
The report also said the facility inappropriately charged six Medicaid residents for haircuts, totaling $260 for a product that is supposed to be a basic covered service within the center.
Creekview said it is in the process of refunding the money and that it has added an additional audit step to ensure this does not happen again.
This comes just weeks after Victorian Square Assisted Living had its license suspended in March for failing to maintain essential services. Some of those services include electricity, water, gas, proper disposal of biohazardous materials and pest control.
