Neurologist Dr. David Hammett will receive $4,590,000 as part of a settlement entered into by Lexington Medical Center (LMC) of West Columbia, S.C., and the federal government. Ironically, the hefty compensation comes as a...more
On July 7 CMS issued a proposed rule reaffirming its position that the Stark Law prohibits “per-click” rent payments when the lessor is the one referring the patients to the lessee for the “click,” e.g., the test or...more
It’s easy to fall into the habit of regarding self-referrals and kickbacks as strictly a matter of federal law, governed only by the federal Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute. But an April 13 verdict in California provides...more
Today’s riddle: why would the government take the defendant’s side against the whistleblower in a False Claims Act qui tam case? Why would the government challenge the whistleblower’s claim that two defendants violated the...more
A new 2016 Medicare physician payment rule allows hospitals and other provider institutions to make payments to physicians for the purpose of enabling them to employ nonphysician practitioners, such as nurse practitioners and...more
Jeffrey Jacobs alleges that Idaho’s Pocatello Hospital violated the False Claims Act because of physician recruitment contracts that were overly generous to his practice group. Jeff should know because he was recruited under...more
10/7/2015
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Hospitals ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Physicians ,
Recruitment Incentives ,
Recruitment Policies ,
Reimbursements ,
Stark Law ,
Whistleblowers
The Stark Law generally prohibits physicians from referring Medicare and Medicaid patients to facilities in which they have an ownership interest. There used to be a “whole hospital exception” excluding entire hospitals (as...more
Okay, there’s not really a Most-Illegal-Physician-Compensation Prize. But if there were, Florida’s North Broward Hospital District would have won in a walk. That’s why the district has agreed to pay the government $69.5...more
Who knew? When you park for free at your doctor’s office, you may be a pawn in a scheme to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Stark Law, and the False Claims Act. It’s enough to make you sick....more
Finding that Community Hospital Systems had been “too clever by half” in negotiating a global settlement agreement for seven whistleblower suits, a federal judge ordered the chain to pay the attorneys’ fees of all the...more
Alisia and David blew the whistle on their former employer, Nurses’ Registry & Home Health, for sending gift baskets and ticket events to doctors who referred patients to the home health operation. Their qui tam suit alleged...more
7/22/2015
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Client Referrals ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Gifts ,
Home Health Care ,
Nurses ,
Physician Compensation Arrangements ,
Physicians ,
Qui Tam ,
Stark Law ,
Summary Judgment ,
Whistleblowers
We don’t normally think of American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals as friends. After all, the AHA represents nonprofits, while the FAH represents for-profits. ...more
Lake Pointe Medical Center has become the first hospital in America to qualify for (i) an exception to (ii) the limitation on the (iii) grandfather exception to the (iv) elimination of the (v) whole-hospital exception to the...more
In U.S. ex rel. Corporate Compliance Assocs. v. N.Y. Society for the Relief of the Ruptured & Crippled the court ruled that the whistleblower failed to meet the False Claims Act’s requirement that allegations be described...more
It’s been a long time since Orlando’s Halifax Hospital got any good news from the federal court hearing the whistleblower case brought by employee Elin Baklid-Kunz. Earlier this year the hospital had to agree to an $85...more