Colorado MDs Pay $55K for Taking Specimen Processing Fee Kickbacks from HDL and Singulex

Case: Two physicians and their family medical practice have agreed to fork over $54,982 to the OIG to settle claims of soliciting and accepting illegal remuneration from lab companies Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. (HDL) and Singulex, Inc., in the form of processing and handling fees for blood samples. Collecting patient blood samples for testing is generally something physicians are expected to do and thus built into the test payment rate; so, charging extra crosses the line into illegal remuneration. Significance: HDL and Singulex, Inc. were accused by a whistleblower of paying physicians processing fees of $10 to $17 per test exchange for orders of medically unnecessary blood tests, which were subsequently billed to Medicare and TRICARE. In April 2015, the case settled with HDL agreeing to pay $47 million and Singulex $1.5 million. The Colorado settlement is the most recent settlement involving downstream physicians who accepted processing fees from HDL and Singulex.