Kalispell (Mont.) Regional Healthcare System has met deadlines for compliance program mandates as part of a $24 million whistle-blower lawsuit settlement, according to a Daily Inter Lake report.
The settlement, reached last September, resolves allegations that the health system violated the False Claims Act, Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute. Lawsuits filed by Jon Mohatt, the former CFO of the system's physician network, said KRHS violated Stark Law by paying excessive compensation to more than 60 physician specialists between 2010 and 2018.
The suits also accuse several health system-related entities of conspiring to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute by providing physicians with excessive payments to induce referrals and providing administrative services at below fair market value.
As part of the settlement, KRHS signed a corporate integrity agreement requiring the health system to submit a report within 120 days, updating HHS' Office of Inspector General regarding accomplishments with the compliance program for federal statutes over the first 90 days, according to the report.
KRHS officials told Daily Inter Lake the health system met this deadline late last month, and the hospital has new policies and procedures in place, as well as updates to existing ones.
"Many of these were already in place in some form, but we filled in slots that we needed to make sure that it was clear in the corporate integrity agreement that we were doing everything that we're supposed to do," said William Gibson, KRHS interim CEO and general counsel.
Mr. Gibson said KRHS is also meeting the requirement to document and track all contracts and payments, primarily through a special software program, and hired a new compliance officer in January.
Ayla Ellison contributed to this story.
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