PULASKI COUNTY, Ark. — Rogers psychiatrist Dr. Brian Hyatt has pleaded not guilty and received a trial date in a Medicaid fraud case.
Hyatt, 51, was arrested on Oct. 9 in Benton County. He was released an hour later and has since been formally charged with two counts of Medicaid fraud, according to court documents.
Hyatt originally pleaded not guilty to the two charges in Pulaski County District Court on Oct. 19, but the case has since been bound over to Pulaski County Circuit Court, which required him to enter a plea again.
Hyatt entered the not guilty plea during an arraignment hearing on Jan. 9. He now has an omnibus hearing on Aug. 30 and a jury trial scheduled to take place from Sept. 17 to Sept. 27.
Court documents say a confidential informant who worked with Hyatt in the behavioral unit at Northwest Medical Center contacted the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) with the Arkansas Attorney General's Office in April 2022.
An investigator with the unit said the CI reported that "there was significant growth in the unit and likewise in the claims and billings submitted to Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance" since Hyatt started as the unit's director.
An affidavit filed in Pulaski County says after an investigation was conducted, Hyatt was found to have allegedly committed Medicaid fraud by billing the highest billing procedure codes for patients to which he did not provide the billed services.
The investigator said Dr. Hyatt's records claimed he had daily face-to-face evaluations and management with all of his patients, but while going over months of surveillance video of the behavioral unit, the investigator said they did not see Dr. Hyatt have contact with a patient at any point.
“In most cases, Dr. Hyatt appeared to observe the patient for a matter of seconds from the hallway, but in many cases, he just walked by the rooms,” the affidavit said. “Dr. Hyatt was not spending any substantial time with his patients. Unless Dr. Hyatt was able to perform a ‘detailed medical examination’ in under two minutes, not once did he perform an exam during the reviewed timeframe.”
Hyatt's contract was terminated by Northwest Medical Center in May 2022. He has since been named in nearly 60 separate lawsuits from former patients claiming he held them against their will to collect more money from the government.
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