Tenet settlement should chill risk managers on physician referrals.

Publication: Healthcare Risk Management

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COPYRIGHT 2006 A Thomson Healthcare Company

Tenet settlement should chill risk managers on physician referrals

Feds sought 'pound of flesh,' will not go easy on violations

The recent settlement of a case involving referrals and kickback allegations has some observers reeling from the tough stance taken by federal prosecutors. The case should a loud-and-clear alarm bell to risk managers, they say.

Tenet Healthcare Corp., based in Dallas, announced recently that it had reached a civil settlement with the U.S. Attorney in San Diego to resolve the long-running criminal case United States of America v. Barry Weinbaum, Tenet HealthSystem Hospitals Inc. and Alvarado Hospital Medical Center Inc. Most in the industry know it as the Alvarado case.

Two federal juries deadlocked and were unable to reach a verdict on criminal charges first brought by a grand jury in mid-2003 regarding certain physician relocation agreements at Alvarado Hospital, a 311-bed Tenet hospital...

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