As used in this article:

(a) “Abuse” means either of the following:

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(1) Practices that are inconsistent with sound fiscal or business practices and result in unnecessary cost to the federal Medicaid and Medicare programs, the Medi-Cal program, another state’s Medicaid program, or other health care programs operated, or financed in whole or in part, by the federal government or a state or local agency in this state or another state.

(2) Practices that are inconsistent with sound medical practices and result in reimbursement by the federal Medicaid and Medicare programs, the Medi-Cal program or other health care programs operated, or financed in whole or in part, by the federal government or a state or local agency in this state or another state, for services that are unnecessary or for substandard items or services that fail to meet professionally recognized standards for health care.

(b) “Applicant” means an individual, including an ordering, referring, or prescribing individual, partnership, group, association, corporation, institution, or entity, and the officers, directors, owners, managing employees, or agents thereof, that apply to the department for enrollment as a provider in the Medi-Cal program.

(c) “Application or application package” means a completed and signed application form, signed under penalty of perjury or notarized pursuant to Section 14043.25, a disclosure statement, a provider agreement, and all attachments or changes in the form, statement, or agreement.

(d) “Appropriate volume of business” means a volume that is consistent with the information provided in the application and any supplemental information provided by the applicant or provider, and is of a quality and type that would reasonably be expected based upon the size and type of business operated by the applicant or provider.

(e) “Business address” means the location where an applicant or provider provides services, goods, supplies, or merchandise, directly or indirectly, to a Medi-Cal beneficiary. A post office box or commercial box is not a business address. The business address for the location of a vehicle or vessel owned and operated by an applicant or provider enrolled in the Medi-Cal program and used to provide services, goods, supplies, or merchandise, directly or indirectly, to a Medi-Cal beneficiary shall either be the business address location listed on the provider’s application as the location where similar services, goods, supplies, or merchandise would be provided or the applicant’s or provider’s pay to address.

(f) “Convicted” means any of the following:

(1) A judgment of conviction has been entered against an individual or entity by a federal, state, or local court, regardless of whether there is a posttrial motion, an appeal pending, or the judgment of conviction or other record relating to the criminal conduct has been expunged or otherwise removed.

(2) A federal, state, or local court has made a finding of guilt against an individual or entity.

(3) A federal, state, or local court has accepted a plea of guilty or nolo contendere by an individual or entity.

(4) An individual or entity has entered into participation in a first offender, deferred adjudication, or other program or arrangement where judgment of conviction has been withheld.

(g) “Debt due and owing” means 60 days have passed since a notice or demand for repayment of an overpayment or another amount resulting from an audit or examination, for a penalty assessment, or for another amount due to the department was sent to the provider, regardless of whether the provider is an institutional provider or a noninstitutional provider and regardless of whether an appeal is pending.

(h) “Enrolled or enrollment in the Medi-Cal program” means authorized under any processes by the department or its agents or contractors to receive, directly or indirectly, reimbursement for the provision of services, goods, supplies, or merchandise to a Medi-Cal beneficiary.

(i) “Fraud” means an intentional deception or misrepresentation made by a person with the knowledge that the deception could result in some unauthorized benefit to himself or herself or some other person. It includes any act that constitutes fraud under applicable federal or state law.

(j) “Location” means a street, city, or rural route address or a site or place within a street, city, or rural route address, and the city, county, state, and nine-digit ZIP Code.

(k) “Not currently enrolled at the location for which the application is submitted” means either of the following:

(1) The provider is changing location and moving to a different location than that for which the provider was issued a provider number.

(2) The provider is adding a business address.

(l) (1) “Individual dentist practice” means a dentist licensed by the Dental Board of California enrolled or enrolling in Medi-Cal as an individual provider who is a sole proprietor of his or her practice or is a corporation owned solely by the individual dentist and the only dentist practitioner is the owner. An individual dentist practice may include nondentist allied dental health professionals employed and supervised by the dentist.

(2) “Individual physician practice” means a physician and surgeon licensed by the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California enrolled or enrolling in Medi-Cal as an individual provider who is sole proprietor of his or her practice or is a corporation owned solely by the individual physician and the only physician practitioner is the owner. An individual physician practice may include nonphysician medical practitioners employed and supervised by the physician.

(m) “Preenrollment period” or “preenrollment” includes the period of time during which an application package for enrollment, continued enrollment, or for the addition of or change in a location is pending.

(n) “Professionally recognized standards of health care” means statewide or national standards of care, whether in writing or not, that professional peers of the individual or entity whose provision of care is an issue recognize as applying to those peers practicing or providing care within a state. When the United States Department of Health and Human Services has declared a treatment modality not to be safe and effective, practitioners that employ that treatment modality shall be deemed not to meet professionally recognized standards of health care. This subdivision shall not be construed to mean that all other treatments meet professionally recognized standards of care.

(o) “Provider” means an individual, partnership, group, association, corporation, institution, or entity, and the officers, directors, owners, managing employees, or agents of a partnership, group association, corporation, institution, or entity, that provides services, goods, supplies, or merchandise, directly or indirectly, including all ordering, referring, and prescribing, to a Medi-Cal beneficiary and that has been enrolled in the Medi-Cal program.

(p) “Resolution of an investigation for fraud or abuse” means there is no documentation to indicate either that a charge or accusation has been filed against the provider and either (1) the investigation has not been active at any time during the previous 12 months or (2) the department has made a documented good faith effort and has been unable, for a period of 12 months, to contact an investigator or responsible representative of any agency investigating the provider.

(q) “Unnecessary or substandard items or services” means those that are either of the following:

(1) Substantially in excess of the provider’s usual charges or costs for the items or services.

(2) Furnished, or caused to be furnished, to patients, whether or not covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or any of the state health care programs to which the definitions of applicant and provider apply, and which are substantially in excess of the patient’s needs, or of a quality that fails to meet professionally recognized standards of health care. The department’s determination that the items or services furnished were excessive or of unacceptable quality shall be made on the basis of information, including sanction reports, from the following sources:

(A) The professional review organization for the area served by the individual or entity.

(B) State or local licensing or certification authorities.

(C) Fiscal agents or contractors or private insurance companies.

(D) State or local professional societies.

(E) Any other sources deemed appropriate by the department.

(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 271, Sec. 1. (SB 299) Effective September 4, 2015.)