Robinson Health System in Ravenna, Ohio, has agreed to pay $10 million to the federal government to settle claims that it engaged in illegal financial relationships with referring physicians.
The single-hospital health system engaged in management agreements with two physician groups that allegedly failed to provide sufficient services to have justified the payments they received, according to a U.S. Justice Department news release.
Robinson voluntarily disclosed the relationships in June 2014. Health system leaders determined that the contracts were “potentially out of compliance” during a due-diligence process while searching for a partner system, the hospital said in a news release. Robinson did not admit liability in the settlement agreement.
The Justice Department alleged that the relationships violated the False Claims Act, as well as the federal anti-kickback statute and Stark law, which govern contractual relationships between hospitals and physicians.
The contracts involved the lease of an office and agreements to provide management and technical services to Robinson Memorial Hospital and healthcare services coverage to hospital patients, according to the system. None of the contracts involved payment for services directly provided to patients and no patient or governmental entity was billed for any service that was not provided, according to the system.
