Here are five key notes about the case:
1. A physician practicing at Jupiter Imaging Associates allegedly gave gift cards to 100 referring physicians. However, the gift cards varied in amount, allegedly with the value of the cards based on physician referral volume.
2. The practice self-disclosed this misconduct and settled the case for $50,000.
3. The gift cards were given as holiday gifts to the referring physicians from April 2010 to December 2013. The self-disclosure occurred in July 2015.
4. Jupiter Imaging Associates didn’t admit liability in the settlement and identified the gift cards through the company’s normal compliance efforts, according to the report.
5. Morgan Lewis Attorney Jacob Harper advised practices sending gifts to referral sources give gifts of a nominal dollar value, in the report.
There have been other cases where healthcare organizations settled false claims allegations; LipoScience in North Carolina settled kickback allegations after giving gift cards to employees at referring physician offices. The practice distributed 4,312 gift cards for around $25 each.
In another case, Forest Park Medical Center in Texas paid $258,000 to settle allegations the hospital offered renumeration to referring physicians and potential referring physicians for advertising or marketing. The hospital also allegedly made payments in cash and gift cards or coupons.
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