Head of Schaumburg health company gets 6 years for Medicare fraud

The head of a northwest suburban home health company was sentenced to six years in prison Tuesday for Medicare fraud.

Diana Gumila, 47, was convicted by a jury in April of 21 counts of health care fraud and three counts of making false statements in a healthcare matter, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

In addition to six years in prison, U.S. District Judge Charles p. Kocoras ordered Gumila to pay $15.6 million in restitution, prosecutors said.

While Gumila was the manager of Shaumburg-based Suburban Home Physicians, doing business as Doctor at Home, the company directed employees to make house calls to patients who did not need in-home treatment, prosecutors. Gumila also told employees to bill Medicare at higher levels even though the visits were typically routine.

A her two-week trial, Gumila was heard on a surreptitious audio recording telling a new doctor to make it appear that patients were confined to their homes. The jury also saw an email from her referring to a physician who did not read orders before signing them as “the type of doctor we need because he will just do what we tell him to do,” prosecutors said.

Gumila is one of three people who were convicted as a result of the federal investigation into Doctor at Home.

Chicago physician Alan Newman pleaded guilty to falsely certifying patients for nursing services they did not need, defrauding Medicare of about $2.6 million, prosecutors said. James Ademiju, a nurse from south suburban Matteson, pleaded guilty to billing for unnecessary services and making illegal payments for patient referrals.