A New Jersey university to pay $8.3 million in Medicare fraud
Compliance Monitor, October 7, 2009
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The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) will pay the government $8.3 million in settlements for illegally paying kickbacks to cardiologists and submitting false claims to Medicare, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) release.
The DOJ reports that beginning in 1995, UMDNJ’s University Hospital experienced a decline in cardiac procedures, which put the facility’s funding and accreditation in jeopardy. UMDNJ’s University Hospital must perform a certain number of annual cardiac procedures to maintain funding and state accreditation. To remedy the situation, UMDNJ paid kickbacks to community cardiologists for referrals.
The government reached settlements with six of the kickback-receiving cardiologists, while two others pleaded guilty to criminal embezzlement charges in connection with the employment contract scheme. Recently, the government filed civil lawsuits against two more cardiologists who allegedly had illegal employment contracts with UMDNJ.
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