CSHM, which owns 54 Small Smiles dental clinics in the U.S., has agreed to sell the chain after the company was recently excluded from participating in the Medicaid and Medicare programs by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The March 7 exclusion letter sent from the HHS’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) cited CSHM for failing to cure several breaches of the Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA) between CSHM and the OIG.
CSHM said it will sell the company within six months as part of a negotiated settlement with the OIG, according to a press release. The settlement gives the chain a six-month extension of the exclusion order, until September 30, 2014, which will allow Small Smiles clinics to continue participating in federal programs such as Medicaid and Medicare.
CSHM disagreed that it breached the CIA.