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Community Health Systems is facing a new federal probe into its hospital billing practices more than four years after the hospital chain settled separate allegations of fraudulent overbilling.

CHS, a national system of 71 rural and suburban hospitals, said this week it received a civil investigative demand from the Department of Justice on Jan. 11. Federal investigators asked CHS to hand over documents that covered “practices and procedures related to utilization review, inpatient admissions, and inpatient dialysis at our hospitals.”

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The DOJ initiates these investigations into health care companies when it believes there could be a False Claims Act case, but has not initiated or joined any lawsuits yet.

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