Recent government enforcement actions involving anesthesia arrangements with ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) highlight the need to vet such arrangements carefully, even as ASCs deal with the pressure of securing anesthesia coverage amid shortages. The government’s recovery of seven- and eight-figure settlements is a likely sign that federal and state prosecutors will maintain their focus on anesthesia providers, management companies and ASCs.
$7.2 Million Settles Anesthesia Management False Claims Act Case
In April of this year, an anesthesia management company, its two principal owners, and 18 affiliated entities entered into a $7.2 million False Claims Act settlement with the federal government and the states of Georgia, Texas and Florida. In the whistleblower’s complaint, a former Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the anesthesia management company, Care Plus Management, LLC (CPM), alleged that the defendants violated the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) by entering into kickback arrangements with referring physicians in exchange for the referrals for anesthesia services. The whistleblower alleged that CPM unlawfully split a percentage of anesthesia service revenue with referring gastroenterologists, vascular surgeons and podiatrists, who were also owners of the ASCs. The whistleblower also alleged that CPM subsidized the referring physicians’ purchases of drugs, supplies, and equipment for their ASCs in exchange for referrals of anesthesia services.
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PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — A third high-ranking employee has filed suit against Mountain Comprehensive Care Center, claiming she was fired for not following orders to submit false billing codes. Kristy St...