Two physicians and two medical practices in California, working together under one operation, have agreed to pay $10 million to resolve kickback and false claims allegations.
According to a Dec. 26 news release by the Department of Justice, Mohammad Rasekhi, MD, Sheila Busheri, Van Nuys-based Southern California Medical Center, collectively operating as University Diagnostic Laboratories, paid kickbacks and made self-referrals. Dr. Rasekhi is the founder and chief medical officer of SCMC and co-owner and CEO of UDL.
The government alleges that the defendants knowingly submitted false claims to state and federal healthcare programs by paying kickbacks to marketers to induce referrals from Medicare and Medi-Cal beneficiaries to SCMC clinic locations. The government also said the defendants also paid above-market rent payments, complimentary and discounted services and write-offs of balances owed by patients to third party clinics, amounting to kickback violations.
They also referred healthcare beneficiaries to UDL for lab testing and referred Medicare and Medi-Cal beneficiaries from SCMC clinics to UDL for lab tests, in violation of the Stark Act, which prohibits self-referrals, according to the press release.