Stark

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland has announced that St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson Maryland will pay $22 million to settle allegations that it violated the federal False Claims Act
Continue Reading Hospital Pays $22M Settlement for Allegedly Improper Physician Professional Service Agreements

ACA requires that, with respect to referrals for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), and any other Stark designated health services (DHS) specified by the Secretary of HHS, a referring physician must inform the patient in writing at the time of the referral that the patient may obtain the service from a person other than the referring physician.
Continue Reading CMS Proposes Regulations Clarifying Stark Imaging Disclosure Requirements

A recent whistleblower case out of the federal 3rd Circuit in Pennsylvania highlights some of the dangers in not properly documenting financial relationships between physicians and hospitals. Specifically, in US ex. rel. Kosenske v. Carlisle HMA, Inc., a Qui Tam lawsuit brought by the former member of an anesthesia group, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a US District Court’s summary judgment in favor of the defendant hospital and anesthesia group.

The anesthesia group in question had a written exclusive contract with the hospital for anesthesia services but, subsequent to entering into the exclusive agreement, began providing pain management services at the hospital’s freestanding pain center. The hospital did not charge the anesthesia group rent for use of the space in the pain center and the qui tam relator claimed that the arrangements failed to meet the Stark exception for personal service arrangements (and therefore that claims for services referred by the anesthesia group’s physicians to the hospital were in violation of the federal False Claim Act).

Continue Reading Pennsylvania Qui Tam Case Highlights Dangers in Physician/Hospital Arrangements