KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Knoxville medical group and its affiliated dialysis clinics have agreed to pay $4.3 million to settle claims that they fraudulently billed the state and federal governments.

An investigation found that Apex Medical Group, which operates under the name of Nephrology Associates, submitted numerous false and fraudulent claims for payment to government health care programs, such as Medicare and TennCare. The U.S. attorney's office in Knoxville said Thursday that the company engaged in a pattern of overbilling for physician services from 2001 to 2006.

The investigation also found that six dialysis clinics owned by Extracorporeal Technologies Inc. and Fort Sanders Kidney Center also improperly billed the government.

As part of the settlement, Apex agreed to be in a five-year integrity program with the federal government.

...