Business
Tenet enters into integrity agreement
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Oct. 16, 2006
Tenet Healthcare has signed a five-year corporate integrity agreement with federal regulators to ensure its compliance in certain areas.
The agreement stems from the broad settlement Tenet reached with the U.S. Justice Dept. in June, in which the troubled Dallas-based hospital chain agreed to forfeit $900 million to resolve investigations into its billing and coding practices and relationships with physicians.
Under the integrity agreement, which expires in 2011, Tenet must maintain certain quality initiatives, a compliance program and code of conduct; formalize certain policies and procedures regarding billing and other issues; provide compliance training to employees; and engage outside reviewers to examine its compliance in several areas.
Tenet said it has already adopted several of the standards and procedures outlined in the agreement.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/10/16/bibf1016.htm.
