A California skilled nursing facility and its management company agreed to pay more than $3.8 million to resolve allegations that they submitted false Medicare and Medicaid claims as part of a physician kickback scheme.
From 2009 through 2019, Riverside, Calif.-based Alta Vista Healthcare & Wellness Centre and its management company, Los Angeles-based Rockport Healthcare Services, gave certain physicians extravagant gifts and paid them monthly stipends of $2,500 to $4,000 for their services as medical directors. At least one purpose of the gifts was to entice physicians to refer patients to Alta Vista, according to a June 21 Justice Department news release. This resulted in false claims to Medicare and California's Medicaid programs.
The settlement stems from a whistleblower lawsuit filed in 2015 by a former nursing home accounting employee. The employee will receive more than $581,000 as her share of recovery.
The defendants will pay $3,228,300 to the United States and $596,700 to California, according to the release. In addition to the fine, Alta Vista and Rockport entered a five-year corporate integrity agreement, which requires a review of the physician relationship with the companies among other obligations.