Government
Iowa hospital settles over excessive physician compensation
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Sept. 14, 2009
An Iowa hospital on Aug. 25 agreed to a $4.5 million settlement with the federal government to resolve allegations that the facility illegally overpaid five physicians for patient referrals.
The Justice Dept. accused Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo of compensating the doctors "far above fair market value" for the referrals, in violation of the federal Stark law. The statute prohibits improper compensation deals between doctors and hospitals.
No physicians were named in the case.
Covenant denied any wrongdoing and in a statement said the doctors' compensation "reflected their exceptionally high level of productivity."
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/09/14/gvbf0914.htm.












