Yellow Springs cheeses win awards

Yellow Springs Farm LLC, a family farm business focused on selling artisanal goat cheeses and yogurts to local communities and restaurants, announced it was awarded Second Place in goat cheese categories for both its Black Diamond and Fieldstone cheeses at the third annual Pennsylvania Farm Show Cheese Competition held earlier this month in Harrisburg.

This was the third year for the Pennsylvania Farm Show Cheese Competition where 44 different cheese varieties were evaluated. Dairy Foods Research & Extension Associate Kerry Kaylegian, with Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, presided over this year’s cheese competition.

“We are pleased to have two of our cheeses honored at the Third Annual Pennsylvania Farm Show Cheese Competition,” said Catherine Renzi, co-owner of Yellow Springs Farm in Chester Springs. “We were proud to be recognized for both our Black Diamond, a bloomy rind aged goat cheese, and Fieldstone, a semi-soft aged goat cheese at this year’s competition. Both cheeses have also won national awards at American Cheese Society competitions in recent years, so it is especially nice to receive local recognition too.”

Penn settles Medicare overcharge case

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced it has settled allegations under the False Claims Act with the University of Pennsylvania Health System, or UPHS, for improperly billing Medicare for stent procedures two interventional cardiologists performed at Pennsylvania Hospital between 2008 and 2012.

UPHS voluntarily disclosed the allegations to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and has agreed to pay $845,000 to resolve the matter. The cardiologists no longer work at Pennsylvania Hospital.

The government launched an investigation based on the UPHS voluntary disclosure. The investigation determined that UPHS submitted bills to Medicare for services provided by the cardiologists that the United States alleges were medically unnecessary, resulting in overpayments to UPHS. After it discovered the problem, UPHS cooperated with the government’s investigation, and implemented a new quality assurance plan for procedures performed in the Pennsylvania Hospital cardiac catheterization lab. In addition, UPHS notified potentially affected patients of its internal review of stent procedures and offered free evaluations by UPHS’ cardiologists. UPHS also voluntarily disclosed the allegations to state regulators.

The matter was investigated by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, and by Auditor Dawn Wiggins and Healthcare Fraud Analyst Ray Uhlhorn of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan R. Becker.

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SUBMITTED PHOTO Yellow Springs Farm, Chester Springs, won two second-place awards for its cheeses at this year’s Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg.