Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office has released a second statement responding to reports that Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) turned over medical records of transgender patients to the state’s highest legal office.
On Tuesday, as previously covered by The Tennessee Star, it was reported that VUMC informed patients of the transfer of records, which, at the time of the report, the facility said was the result of an investigation into “billing for transgender care services provided to individuals enrolled in State-sponsored insurance plans.”
Skrmetti’s Chief of Staff Brandon Smith issued an initial statement on Tuesday, confirming the request for records while clarifying that the office’s investigation is solely into the institution, not patients.
In a more-detailed statement released Wednesday, Skrmetti’s office explained how its investigation into the institution came about and its reasoning for requesting various types of records, while also further clarifying that its investigation is “directed solely at VUMC and related providers.”
“In the summer of 2022, the Attorney General’s Office learned that a VUMC doctor publicly described her manipulation of medical billing codes to evade coverage limitations on gender-related treatment,” Skrmetti’s office explained. “That information provided predication for an investigation into potential violation of the Tennessee Medicaid False Claims Act (TMFCA) and the Tennessee False Claims Act (TFCA). The Office formally opened its investigation into VUMC and certain related providers last September.”
Adding that in order to enforce the TMFCA and TFCA, Skrmetti’s office said that it is “authorized to issue civil investigative demands (CIDs), which may require sworn testimony and document production, including patient medical records.”
“This is the same legal tool regularly employed in consumer protection investigations of other types of corporate misconduct,” Skrmetti’s office added.
The state’s highest legal office further explained that VUMC “started producing medical records more than six months ago,” adding, “This Office has kept the investigation confidential for almost a year and was surprised by VUMC’s decision to notify patients.”
“The Attorney General has no desire to turn a run-of-the-mill fraud investigation into a media circus,” Skrmetti’s office continued.
“We understand patients are concerned that VUMC produced their records to this Office, especially when those patients received abrupt notice without any context. To reiterate, this investigation is directed solely at VUMC and related providers and not at patients or their families. The records have been and will continue to be held in the strictest confidence, as is our standard practice and required by law. This same process happens in dozens of billing fraud investigations every year,” Skrmetti’s office concluded.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
