13 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 364b
Insurance — Personal injury protection — Reconsideration — Where no final judgment has issued, trial court has authority to reconsider and modify or vacate order denying motion for summary judgment — Coverage — Medical provider — Unregistered clinic — Where medical provider operated from single structure or facility on date services were rendered to insured, provider was clinic which was required to register with state to recover claimed PIP benefits — Summary final judgment entered in favor of insurer
MILLENNIUM DIAGNOSTIC & IMAGING CENTER, INC., a/a/o Aleida A. Bilbau, Plaintiff(s), vs. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant(s). County Court, 11th Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Civil Division. Case No. 05-11755-CC-05, Section No. (02). February 2, 2006. Linda Dakis, Administrative Judge. Counsel: Richard Shuster, Parwaresch & Shuster, LLC, Miami Beach. Steven R. Woods, Roig, Kasperovich, Tutan & Woods, P.A., Deerfield Beach.
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION AND SUMMARY FINAL JUDGMENT
THIS MATTER came before the Court on January 24, 2006 on defendant’s Motion for Reconsideration of a prior order dated July 2, 2002 executed by the Honorable Jeffrey Swartz. The Court finds:
1) Defendant’s Motion for Reconsideration is granted as the Order Denying Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is interlocutory and therefore subject to modification or vacation. In this case, no Summary Final Judgment was issued and therefore, based on its inherent authority, the trial court can re-address any non-final matter. See, Bettez v. City of Miami, 510 So.2d 1242 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983) and Consortium for Diagnostic Inc. v. Cigna Insurance Company, 781 So.2d 1128 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001).
2) The sole issue is whether Millennium Diagnostic & Imaging Center, Inc., hereafter referred to as Millennium, was required to register with the State of Florida, Department of Health, pursuant to F.S. 456.0375 in order to recover PIP benefits for services rendered. In a suit to recover these benefits, the deposition of Jose Garcia, Vice President for Millennium, was taken on April 11, 2002. The deposition revealed that Millennium was registered on February 6, 2002; the dates of service to
A. Bilbau were from December 6, 2001 through December 10, 2001; Millennium had licenses for bio-medical waste and for the radiation machine; Millennium was not exempt from federal taxation; that Millennium operated from a single structure and was not wholly owned by licensed health care practitioners.
In the instant case, the overriding factual distinction from Diagnostic Services of South Florida a/a/o Federico Pena v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company et al., 877 So.2d 1 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004) reveals that Millennium operated from a single structure or facility on the date it rendered the services to Ms. Bilbau. In Diagnostic Services, supra, the service was rendered in various doctors’ offices from multiple locations owned by others. This distinction appears as the focal point in finding Diagnostic was not a “clinic” under F.S. 456.0375 and therefore, was not required to register. Recognizing this distinction leads the court to find that Millennium is a clinic within F.S. 456.0375 and therefore should have been registered in order to recover the claimed benefits. Accordingly, SUMMARY FINAL JUDGMENT is entered in favor of the defendant, STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY against MILLENNIUM DIAGNOSTIC & IMAGING CENTER INC., A/A/O A. Bilbau who shall take nothing by this action. The Court reserves jurisdiction to award attorneys fees and costs.
