All Children's Hospital, Pediatric Physician Services, All Children's Health System to Pay $7M to Settle Stark Law Violations

All Children's Hospital, Pediatric Physician Services and All Children's Health System, three St. Petersburg, Fla.-based organizations, have settled a whistle-blower lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act for $7 million.

The lawsuit was filed by the former Director of Operations for Pediatric Physician Services under the qui tam provision of the FCA alleging violations of Stark Law.

The lawsuit alleged Pediatric Physician Services, which is wholly-owned by All Children's, paid many physicians above market value for their services.

According to the lawsuit, in her role as the Director of Operations, the whistle-blower developed a compensation model that would guarantee physicians a base salary between the 25th and 75th percentile nationwide, which was developed from the aggregate of three salary surveys.

The board of Pediatric Physician Services approved the compensation model that also stated physicians would not be compensated below the 25th percentile or above the 75th percentile.

However, Pediatric Physician Services subsequently hired several physicians and provided them with base salaries above the 90th percentile, which was not supported by any model or survey. 

The $7 million settlement will resolve all allegations under the lawsuit, and there has been no liability admitted by any party.

More Articles on Stark Law:

5 Key False Claims, Stark & Anti-Kickback Concepts for Hospitals' Senior Leaders 
Recent Trends & Developments Under the False Claims Act: Considerations for Avoiding Litigation
30 Medical Organizations Push to Keep Stark Law Exception 

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