A Greenville-based health care system will pay more than $36 million to the United States in a settlement to resolve allegations of false claims.
St. Francis Physician Services, Inc., St. Francis Hospital, and Bon Secours St. Francis Health System, Inc., collectively “St. Francis,” owner and operator of the St. Francis healthcare system, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization in Greenville, agreed on June 15 to pay $36.5 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act, the Federal Stark Law, and the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute by making payments to orthopedic surgeons that were tied to the volume or value of referrals, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina.
The settlement resolves allegations that St. Francis caused the submission of false claims to Medicare and to TRICARE as a result of an unlawful contractual payment structure between St. Francis and Piedmont Orthopedic Associates, according to a news release. As a result, Piedmont’s compensation was allegedly tied to the volume or value of the practice’s referrals to St. Francis.
Specifically, it is alleged that St. Francis’s bonus payments to Piedmont’s physicians violated both the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
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