Healthicity Blog

On Dec. 1, 2016, a judge ordered to unseal an indictment of 21 individuals allegedly involved in a $40 million bribe and kickback scheme involving Forest Park Medical Center Dallas (FPMC). 

Though whistleblower settlements don’t necessarily seem to be slowing down, it does seem that the government is announcing more and more settlements that appear to have originated from government data mining as opposed to whistleblowers.

Most doctors read medical journals to stay abreast of the most current treatment options or cutting edge research about advancements in clinical care. And more and more physicians are seeing articles in their medical journals about compliance, fraud and abuse.

Many of us have heard the phrase that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. It seems this is proving true with a couple of recent healthcare compliance settlements.

An OIG Special Agent, ZPIC Contractor, and U.S. Attorney all walk into a bar…Except they didn’t actually walk into a bar. But, they did recently walk into a Congressional hearing to offer testimony on healthcare fraud and abuse investigative efforts. What they had to say was pretty interesting.

It’s finally here. The long awaited Final Rule from CMS for Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities was recently published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 (Fed. Reg. Vol. 81, No. 192 pages 68688-68872).

According to OCR, Care New England Health System (CNE) has common ownership or control of over 8 covered entity hospitals or clinics in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Lexington Medical Center in South Carolina recently settled for $17 million to resolve allegations that its incentives with physicians violated Stark and Anti-kickback law violations.