E. Bruce DiDonato, an optometrist who founded Campus Eye LLC and Campus Eye Surgery Center LLC in Hamilton Township, has been charged in a seven-count federal indictment related to health care fraud and illegal kickbacks, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey.
DiDonato, 71, of Lawrence Township, was charged July 29 with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, two counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to offer and pay health care kickbacks in connection with illegal referrals, and three counts of paying health care kickbacks.
The charges are accusations, and DiDonato is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
In 2021, DiDonato sold a portion of his interest in Campus Eye LLC and Campus Eye Surgery Center LLC to a private equity firm, according to documents filed in the case and statements made in court.
DiDonato then became CEO of the newly formed Campus Eye Management Holdings LLC and its wholly owned subsidiary, Campus Eye Management LLC.
The two entities operated the optometry practice and outpatient eye surgery center in Hamilton Township.
Before and after DiDonato and outside investors formed the Campus Eye entities, he and others allegedly engaged in Medicare fraud by performing and billing for unnecessary diagnostic tests at the eye surgery center. The conduct allegedly occurred from at least 2015 through March 2023, according to federal prosecutors.
DiDonato allegedly paid kickbacks and bribes to ophthalmologists in exchange for referring patients who needed eye surgery to the center.
Diagnostic tests were allegedly ordered that duplicated tests the patients had already received. Some tests also were not needed for the type of surgery being performed.
Neither DiDonato nor the optometrist reviewed the tests, according to prosecutors. In most instances, the ophthalmologists did not review the tests or rely on them when making treatment decisions before surgery.
Optometrists and ophthalmologists both provide eye care, but their training and roles differ. Optometrists attend optometry school and generally provide routine eye care, while ophthalmologists attend medical school and can perform eye surgery.
To conceal the alleged kickbacks and bribes, DiDonato created sham agreements that described the payments as consulting fees, according to prosecutors. The payments were made as monthly flat fees.
The flat fees were allegedly based on a percentage of the optometry practice’s Medicare reimbursements for tests performed on patients whom the ophthalmologists had referred to the practice during the previous year.
DiDonato allegedly caused approximately $3.4 million in fraudulent claims to be submitted to Medicare. Medicare paid approximately $1 million on those claims, according to prosecutors.
If convicted, DiDonato faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on each of the health care fraud conspiracy and health care fraud counts. He faces a maximum of five years in prison on the kickback conspiracy count and 10 years on each count of paying health care kickbacks.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Justice declined to prosecute the Campus Eye entities for the health care fraud and kickback scheme because of the companies’ timely and voluntary disclosure of the misconduct, full cooperation with the investigation and remedial measures, federal officials said.
The Campus Eye entities agreed to pay $1 million in disgorgement as part of the resolution.
