Physicians Alliance is expected to pay around $4 million to settle claims that it accepted remuneration illegally to refer patients to HMA hospitals.
Here are four things to know:
1. Physicians Alliance executives Lee Meyers, Michael Warren, MD, and Wallace Longton, MD, agreed to resolve allegations of illegal remuneration for patient referrals to Lancaster Regional Medical Center and Heart of Lancaster Medical Center from 2009 to 2012; both are HMA hospitals.
2. In addition to paying around $4 million to settle this case, Physicians Alliance will pay a percentage of proceeds generated from selling the practice's interest to HMA in a joint venture.
3. Former HMA hospital executives George Miller and Michael Metts filed the suit against Physicians Alliance and HMA in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Both will share in the settlement, but their share has not been determined.
4. The OIG announced this settlement is in conjunction with a $29.6 million settlement the agency reached with Envision Healthcare's EmCare to resolve illegal remuneration issues from HMA; HMA allegedly provided bonuses for increasing admission through the ED, and as a result, EmCare physicians allegedly admitted patients for inpatient stays when their care should have been outpatient.