Policy & oversight
Maryland Lab Owner Convicted of 18.7 Million Dollar Medicare Fraud That Used Nursing Home COVID Testing as Cover
A federal jury found Patrick Britton-Harr guilty of billing Medicare for respiratory tests that were never ordered, never performed, and in some cases attributed to residents who had already died.
By the Goodsurance editorial teamOctober 21, 2026
A federal jury in Maryland convicted Patrick Britton-Harr, 42, of Annapolis, on October 21, 2026, on five counts of health care fraud and one count of transactional money laundering, according to a Department of Justice announcement.
Britton-Harr owned Provista Health, a laboratory in Arizona. Beginning in 2020, he approached nursing homes across the country offering COVID-19 testing during a period when those facilities urgently needed testing services. After specimens were collected for COVID-19 screening, he billed Medicare separately for high-priced respiratory pathogen panel tests, which screen for more than 30 pathogens, claiming they had been ordered by treating physicians. Prosecutors said those physician orders were fabricated and that the respiratory panel tests were never performed.
A Maryland lab owner piggybacked on nursing-home COVID tests to bill Medicare 18.7 million dollars for respiratory tests that were never performed, a federal jury found.
Over roughly six months, Britton-Harr billed Medicare 18.7 million dollars for the respiratory panel tests. Medicare paid more than 7.2 million dollars before the scheme was detected. Prosecutors presented evidence that some billed tests were attributed to nursing home residents who had already died.
Evidence at trial showed Britton-Harr directed inexperienced employees, including family members and interns still in high school and college, to bill for a respiratory panel test every time a COVID-19 test was performed. He used proceeds to purchase a Porsche 911 costing 112,500 dollars and to cover 25,000 dollars per month in mortgage payments on an Annapolis waterfront home.
Each health care fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. The case was investigated by the FBI, the HHS Office of Inspector General, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
In plain words
A jury in Maryland found Patrick Britton-Harr guilty of Medicare fraud on October 21, 2026. He owned a lab in Arizona called Provista Health. Starting in 2020, he visited nursing homes offering COVID-19 tests. After taking COVID samples, he billed Medicare for expensive respiratory tests that were never ordered and never done. Some of those bills were for patients who had already passed away. He billed Medicare 18.7 million dollars in about six months. Medicare paid more than 7.2 million dollars before the fraud was caught. He used that money to buy a car for 112,500 dollars and to pay 25,000 dollars a month on his waterfront home. He faces up to 10 years in prison for each fraud count. He has not yet been sentenced.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice
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