NJ Health System Settles Physician Kickback Allegations for $12.6M

A New Jersey health system has agreed to pay a settlement of $12.6 million for allegedly violating the federal False Claims Act and New Jersey False Claims Act by making improper payments to physicians, states a January 24, 2013, press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. According to the press release, the improper payments were made as part of consulting and compensation agreements that the hospital enacted to help build its cardiology program. Under the agreements, participating physicians were paid approximately $18,000 to serve on the facility’s Heart Institute Advisory Board and attend at least four meetings over the course of any given year.