7 Texas doctors and hospital CEO to settle over $1.1 million kickback allegations

[ad_1]

Seven Texas doctors and a hospital CEO have agreed to pay more than $1.1 million to resolve allegations that they violated anti-kickback law and Stark law by accepting illegal monetary benefits in exchange for the ordering lab tests, the Justice Department announced on January 20.

The settlements resolve allegations that the seven doctors took thousands of dollars in kickbacks from eight management service organizations in return for ordering lab tests from Little River Healthcare, True Health Diagnostics and Boston Heart Diagnostics Corp. River funded physician payments by paying commissions to independent recruiters who used management service organizations to pay physicians for referrals. Management service organizations allegedly disguised physician payments as returns on investment. The alleged bribes were paid from 2015 to 2018 to:

Jaspaul Bhangoo, MD, of Denton Robert Megna, DO, of Ferris Baxter Montgomery, MD, of Houston Murtaza Mussaji, DO, of Houston David Sneed, DO, of Austin Kevin Lewis, DO, of Houston Angela Mosley-Nunnery, MD, of kingwood

As part of the settlements, the doctors agreed to cooperate with Justice Department investigations and litigation against other parties.

Additionally, Richard DeFoore of Anson, Texas, the former CEO of Stamford (Texas) Memorial Hospital, which is now closed, has agreed to pay $50,000 to resolve allegations that he participated in a kickback scheme. de-vin to enrich Stamford Memorial in coordination with True Health and Boston. Heart.

“Stamford allegedly coordinated with representatives of True Health and Boston Heart and paid volume-based commissions to independent recruiters, who used MSOs to make payments to physicians that were disguised as returns on investment, but were in fact based on and offered in exchange for doctors’ recommendations,” prosecutors said. “Consistent with the alleged arrangement, Stamford billed the resulting claims to commercial insurers and True Health and Boston Heart billed the resulting claims to Medicare and other federal health care programs.”

As part of the settlement, Mr. DeFoore also agreed to cooperate with Justice Department investigations and litigation against other parties, and to be barred from participation in federal health care programs for three years.

[ad_2]