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Johns Hopkins Health System and Sibley Memorial Hospital have settled improper payment allegations for $5 million.
Sibley Memorial, in Washington, D.C., allegedly violated the Stark Law from 2008 to 2011 by billing Medicare for services referred by 10 cardiologists with whom the hospital had a financial relationship, the Justice Department said Monday.
“Johns Hopkins Medicine discovered and flagged a technical non-compliance with the Stark Act in 2011 as part of the onboarding evaluation for Sibley Memorial Hospital when they were becoming part of the Johns Hopkins Health System,” a health system spokesperson wrote in an email. “We immediately self-reported and have been working with the Department of Justice to bring closure to the matter in the 12 years since.”
Both the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute help ensure physicians’ medical judgments are based on patient interests rather than financial incentives. The Stark Law, formally called the Physician Self-Referral Law, prohibits hospitals from billing Medicare for services referred by physicians with whom they have a financial connections, unless an exception applies. The Anti-Kickback Statute bans offering or accepting financial payments for referrals of services covered by Medicare or Medicaid.
Baltimore, Maryland-based Johns Hopkins Medicine comprises Johns Hopkins Health System and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. It operates six academic and community hospitals in Maryland, the Washington, D.C. area and Florida. The system acquired Sibley Memorial Hospital in a non-cash affiliation deal in 2010.
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