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INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The recent case against Community Health Network for violations of the Stark Law was initially brought about by a whistleblower within the health system.
Ultimately, Community will pay $345 million to the United States government due to violations of that law.
The Stark Law prohibits doctors from referring patients for services payable by Medicare or Medicaid where the physician or an immediate family member has financial ties. Services could include labs, physical therapy, drug prescriptions, and prosthetics, among other services.
Veronica Nannis is the lead counsel for the whistleblower, Thomas Fischer. She says this is illegal because it erodes the integrity of a doctor’s medical opinion.
“If there are financial incentives to send me for a treatment that I don’t need or send me for extra treatment or to send me to a location that they get a financial kickback if they send me to then there is no longer that independent medical judgment,” Nannis said.
This was uncovered by Fischer, a healthcare finance and operations executive, back in 2014. He initially filed the complaint with six claims alleging these violations go back to 2008. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana then took over two of the claims and settled with Community.
“The doctors were not named as defendants in this case and the government only filed against Community Health Network itself,” Nannis said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Community paid some...
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