THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Not because the geezers are flocking north but because it has become a hotbed of Medicare fraud. And the most lucrative field is in physical therapy.

A few miles from the Coney Island boardwalk in Brooklyn stands an outpost of what, on paper, is a giant of American medicine.

Nothing about the place hints at the money that is said to flow there. But in 2012, according to federal data, $4.1 million from Medicare coursed through the office in a modest white house on Ocean Avenue.

In all, the practice treated around 1,950 Medicare patients that year. On average, it was paid by Medicare for 94 separate procedures for each one. That works out to about 183,000 treatments a year, 500 a day, 21 an hour.

What makes those figures more remarkable, and raises eyebrows among medical experts, is that judging by Medicare billing records, one person did it all. His name is Wael Bakry, and he is not some A-list cardiologist, oncologist or internist. He is a physical therapist.

But physical therapy, it turns out, is a big recipient of national Medicare dollars — and physical therapy in Brooklyn is among the biggest of all. Of the 10 physical therapists nationwide who were paid the most by Medicare in 2012, half listed Brooklyn addresses, according to an analysis of Medicare billing data by The New York Times. Two others listed addresses on Long Island, one in Queens, and one each in California and Texas.

One thing is certain: Physical therapy has become a Medicare gold mine. Medicare paid physical therapists working in offices $1.8 billion in 2012 alone, the 10th-highest field among 74 specialties, according to the Times analysis. In Brooklyn, physical therapy was second only to internal medicine.

Why Brooklyn? Federal authorities say the borough is a national hot spot for Medicare fraud, particularly fraud involving physical therapy. Unscrupulous practitioners bill Medicare for unnecessary treatments or procedures they never perform — something that is often easier to do in physical therapy than in fields like oncology or cardiology.

Physical therapy is a field open to unverifiable claims, even when they are doing good.