Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
NJ Clinical Lab Associate Gets 20 Months in Prison in Bribery Case
Unfortunately, corruption abounds in the healthcare industry despite the best intentions of many to focus on providing quality care and service to patients nationwide.
A New Jersey salesman found himself in hot water after admitting to a “long-running and elaborate scheme” to bribe a physician to refer patients for testing to his clinical lab company. The lab work generated from the referrals totaled over $400,000.
“The investigation has thus far resulted in 41 guilty pleas—27 of them from doctors—in connection with the bribery scheme, which its organizers have admitted involved millions of dollars in bribes and resulted in more than $100 million in payments from Medicare and various private insurance companies,” the Jan. 18, 2017 Department of Justice (DOJ) press release said. “It is believed to be the largest number of medical professionals ever prosecuted in a bribery case.”
The DOJ has already recovered $12 million of the fraudulent payments with more to come as the case remains open, the press release suggests.
For more information on this DOJ release, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/salesman-new-jersey-clinical-lab-sentenced-20-months-prison-bribing-doctor-test-referral.
Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
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