ACE Alert, November 11, 2021 Volume 46
Just When You Think the Government Isn’t Paying Attention to Anesthesia…
$28 Million Dollar Settlement Appears!
This week the Department of Justice announced a settlement out of the Northern District of Georgia which should put all anesthesia groups on alert as to what services they are providing in Ambulatory Surgery Centers and potentially physician offices.
Over the years many anesthesia groups have wrestled with kickback demands from ASCs, such as paying for anesthesia drugs and supplies, providing equipment, providing ASC staff, etc., in exchange for exclusive contract arrangements. The bottom line is that an anesthesia group cannot absorb any expense that is allocated to the ASC. In this case, an anesthesia group that was unwilling to meet the ASC demands lost an ASC contract because it could not compete with those willing to break the law.
And it is true when the government comes for dinner, they always get dessert, hence when they began investigating the original complaint, they found multiple ASC’s and anesthesia providers willing to meet ASC demands to obtain or keep an exclusive contract.
The relators who brought this case were compensated to the tune of over $4.7 million dollars. While stressful for sure, it was definitely worth standing up for what was right.
Read the US Department of Justice Press Release Here:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/anesthesia-providers-and-outpatient-surgery-centers-pay-more-28-million-resolve
If you want to book an external review with the ACE experts contact Kayla in our office at kaylal@aceauditors.com
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