◆ Vanguard Healthcare, LLC, and related Vanguard companies agreed to pay $18 million to settle false claims allegations that five Vanguard skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) submitted Medicare and Medicaid claims for services “that were grossly substandard or worthless,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee and Department of Justice said Feb. 27. The settlement also resolves claims brought against Vanguard’s CEO, William Orand, and Vanguard’s former director of operations, Mark Miller, who agreed to pay $250,000. Among other things, the SNFs named in the false claims complaint allegedly failed to “provide skilled nursing services in accordance with physicians’ orders” and “provide standard infection control, resulting in urinary tract infections (UTIs) and wound infections…” (“Vanguard SNFs, COO Accused of Billing For ‘Worthless Services’ in FCA Case,” RMC Vol. 25, no. 33). Visit http://bit.ly/2UeVGha.