Patrick Britton-Harr

Convicted. A federal jury convicted Britton-Harr on all six counts; sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

Introduction

Patrick Britton-Harr, 42, of Annapolis, Maryland, is a laboratory owner convicted by a federal jury in the District of Maryland of exploiting the pandemic-era desperation of nursing homes to bill Medicare more than $18 million for expensive respiratory tests that residents did not need, physicians did not order, and, in many cases, that were never performed at all . The jury convicted him on five counts of health care fraud and one count of transactional money laundering, each carrying a maximum penalty of ten years in prison .

Background Information

Britton-Harr owned a laboratory in Arizona through his company, Provista Health, which he used to submit the billing at the center of the case . In 2020, as nursing homes across the country searched desperately for COVID-19 testing services, he offered them testing — and then, prosecutors proved at trial, attached a far more lucrative product to every specimen . The Department of Justice’s account of the case also notes, through the FBI’s statement at conviction, that Britton-Harr had a previous fraud conviction in an unrelated investment-fraud scheme that defrauded private citizens .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

According to court documents and trial evidence, after specimens were collected from nursing home residents and other laboratories performed the requested COVID-19 testing, Britton-Harr billed Medicare for separate, high-priced respiratory pathogen panel (RPP) tests purportedly conducted at his Arizona laboratory — tests screening for more than thirty respiratory pathogens that he falsely claimed treating physicians had ordered . In reality, the physicians never ordered them; several physicians testified at trial that they had never ordered an RPP test for any patient in their entire careers .

Through Provista Health, Britton-Harr billed Medicare $18.7 million for RPP testing purportedly performed in just six months, of which Medicare paid more than $7.2 million . The trial evidence described how he directed inexperienced employees — including a family member and high-school- and college-aged interns — to bill an RPP test every time a COVID-19 test was performed . The billing continued, the evidence showed, even after he had closed the Arizona laboratory, barred staff from working in it, and no longer had the equipment necessary to run the tests at all, and it included tests billed for nursing home residents who were already deceased .

Public Reaction and Consequences

U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes for the District of Maryland said: “Mr. Britton-Harr’s decision to exploit elderly nursing-home residents and inexperienced interns for personal gain during a global pandemic is unconscionable.” Hayes added that the verdict reinforces the department’s message that “there is nowhere to hide for those who commit fraud” . FBI Baltimore Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul said: “Patrick Britton-Harr will now face the consequences of his greed and brazen crimes.” Paul also noted Britton-Harr’s earlier investment-fraud conviction, in which the FBI uncovered a separate scheme defrauding private citizens . The case was investigated by HHS-OIG and the FBI, and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Chris Wenger of the Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ari Evans for the District of Maryland . Hayes added that the U.S. Attorney’s Office and its law-enforcement partners remain committed to rooting out fraud and holding accountable those who exploit vulnerable victims and steal taxpayer money .

Current Status

Britton-Harr was convicted on October 19, 2026, and awaits sentencing; a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors . With ten years available on each of the six counts, his exposure at sentencing reaches decades in prison. The government’s evidence also traced the scheme’s proceeds into his personal life, including a $112,500 Porsche 911 purchased in December 2020 and $25,000 monthly mortgage payments on his Annapolis waterfront mansion .

Impact on Their Career/Life

The conviction ends Britton-Harr’s run as a health-care entrepreneur and, coming on top of a prior fraud conviction, leaves him facing sentencing as a repeat fraud offender in the eyes of the guidelines. The trial record — physicians who never ordered the tests, residents who were never tested or were already dead, and interns directed to bill on command — has fixed the story of Provista Health as one of the starkest pandemic-testing fraud cases to reach a jury verdict in Maryland.

Sources

• DOJ Office of Public Affairs, “Maryland Man Convicted of $18.7M Medicare Fraud for Respiratory Testing Scheme Targeting Nursing Homes,” October 20, 2026 — source