Massachusetts Practice Busted for Taking Free POCT Cups from Millennium
Case: A northern Massachusetts medical practice and Detroit pain clinic became the latest downstream providers to pay the OIG a five-figure fine to settle kickback claims in the form of accepting free point of care test cups from
Case: A northern Massachusetts medical practice and Detroit pain clinic became the latest downstream providers to pay the OIG a five-figure fine to settle kickback claims in the form of accepting free point of care test cups from now defunct Millennium Laboratories. The settlement amounts: $87,650 and $44,900, respectively, are consistent with the range of what other providers have paid since autumn 2017 when the feds began targeting the physicians on the receiving end of the Millennium scandal.
Significance: Millennium used the freebies to pay physicians for referrals of custom profile panels and other tests to carry out what the feds claim is the largest ever kickback scandal involving lab services. For more on the physician crackdown, see Lab Compliance Advisor (LCA), June 18, 2018.
| Millennium Free POCT Cup Physicians Settlement Scorecard (as of August 1, 2019) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Provider(s) | Settlement Amount |
Individual Physicians Also Charged? |
| July 12, 2019 | Anesthesia Services, P.C. d/b/a University Pain Clinic (UPC) | $44,900 | NO |
| June 14, 2019 | HKD Treatment Options, P.C. | $87,650 | NO |
| Dec. 21, 2018 | Tulsa Pain Consultants, Inc. | $98,942 | YES |
| Sept. 6, 2018 | Doctor’s Inlet Pediatrics and Primary Care, P.A., and Avenues Pediatrics and Internal Medicine (Florida) | $58,370 | YES |
| May 24, 2018 | Recovery Pathways, LLC (Michigan) | $64,555 | NO |
| April 5, 2018 | Affordable Medical Care f/k/a Andalusia Medical Center (Alabama) | $40,500 | YES |
| Feb. 28, 2018 | The Pain Institute, Inc. d/b/a Space Coast Pain Institute (Florida) | $95,302 | YES |
| Dec. 5, 2017 | Addiction Medical Care of Norwalk, Practice Management Associates Norwalk, LLC, Addiction Medical Care of Columbus, and Practice Management Associates, LLC (collectively, “AMC”) (Ohio) | $79,880 | NO |
| Sept. 27, 2017 | Advanced Pain Management (Arizona) | $186,210 | NO |
| Sept. 18, 2017 | Parallax Center, Inc. (New York) | $64,203 | NO |
Subscribe to view Essential
Start a Free Trial for immediate access to this article