Atlanta-based American Health Imaging and its former founder and CEO, Scott Arant, have agreed to pay the U.S. and the state of Georgia $5,250,000 to resolve kickback and false claims allegations.
According to a Dec. 2 news release from the Department of Justice, between 2011 and 2019, AHI induced referrals from physicians for diagnostic scans by gifting alcohol, gas cards, free scans, tickets to sporting events, fishing trips, happy hours and sponsorships of "open houses" at physician offices. The government alleged that many of AHI's marketing events had no "discernable educational purpose."
The government also alleged that AHI entered into personal service agreements with referring physicians that were above fair-market value whereby physicians were compensated to interpret scans that they referred to AHI, amounting to violations of the False Claims Act.