Medical Center Agrees To $2 Million Settlement Of Voluntary Disclosure

The United States announces that it has settled claims under the False Claims Act with St. Mary Medical Center (SMMC) for improperly administering certain physician income guarantee agreements.  SMMC voluntarily disclosed the allegations and has agreed to pay $2,339,224.70 to resolve the matter.

According to the self-disclosure and the investigation that followed, between January 2005 and August 2010, SMMC had 15 physician income guarantee agreements for recruited physicians and failed to properly administer the terms of certain recruitment contracts. This resulted in net overpayments to certain recruited physicians.  Because those physicians and their practices referred patients to SMMC for medical treatment that was billed to federally funded programs, the United States alleges that false claims were submitted to the government.  After it discovered the problem, SMMC took corrective action to resolve the improper payments, and disclosed the matter to the United States Attorney’s Office.

This matter was handled by Department Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, including Attorney Sandra Sands and AATS Audit Manager Bernard Siegel with the Office of Audit Services, and Assistant United States Attorney Susan Dein Bricklin.

Settlement Agreement, Part 1.pdf | Settlement Agreement, Part 2.pdf

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525