Telemedicine Practitioner Sentenced for $7.8M DME Fraud Scheme

BOSTON—A Virginia-based nurse practitioner was sentenced in federal court in Boston in connection with a $7.8 million telemedicine fraud scheme involving medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME), including orthotics such as back and knee braces.

Daphne Jenkins, 64, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 18 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release, with the first year to be served in home confinement. Jenkins was also ordered to pay $3,952,761 in restitution. In November 2023, Jenkins pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Between December 2018 and April 2020, Jenkins worked with a purported telemedicine company to sign orders for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME). These DME orders were pre-populated by telemarketing companies that called Medicare beneficiaries to solicit their information. 

Through DocuSign, Jenkins signed these DME orders even though she did not have any contact with the beneficiaries and did not have a provider-patient relationship with them. Often Jenkins signed these DME orders without reading them. For instance, one packet was 16 pages long and contained multiple orders for orthotics. Jenkins electronically signed her name 12 times and completed the orders in approximately 32 seconds. A second packet was 37 pages long and contained multiple orders for orthotics. 

Jenkins electronically signed her name 24 times and completed the orders in approximately 45 seconds. Once Jenkins signed these orders, the telemarketing company sold them to DME suppliers, which then submitted claims to Medicare. As a result of Jenkins’ participation in this conspiracy, over $7.8 million in claims were submitted to Medicare for DME that was medically unnecessary, based on false documentation and tainted by kickbacks.