St. James Healthcare in Butte, Mont., and parent company Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System in Denver, have agreed to a settlement of $3.85 million to resolve allegations of illegally providing financial benefits to physicians who made referrals to the hospital.
St. James and Sisters of Charity allegedly made an improper payment to physicians involved with a joint venture with St. James and allowed the physicians to lease a medical office building at a below-market rate in exchange. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, these actions placed St. James and Sisters of Charity in violation of the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute.
"Improper financial arrangements between hospitals and physicians not only undermine the integrity of the decisions that doctors make, they raise the cost of healthcare for all of us," said Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division Stuart F. Delery in a news release. "The department has longstanding concerns about such conduct and is committed to working with healthcare providers that come forward to disclose their misconduct."
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