William Salko, DO, a physician formerly of Richland, Wash., and healthcare staffing company Jackson & Coker LocumTenes, agreed to pay $700,000 to settle allegations of participating in a kickback scheme.
Dr. Salko and JCLT allegedly billed Medicare for medically unnecessary durable medical equipment and diagnostic laboratory testing as part of the scheme, according to a March 15 Justice Department news release.
In 2021, Dr. Salko was retained through JCLT to provide telemedicine services for Nationwide Health Advocates. Nationwide-employed telemarketing companies obtained personal information from Medicare beneficiaries to generate physician's orders for equipment or testing, which were signed by Dr. Salko and then billed to Medicare.
Nationwide paid JCLT, which then paid Dr. Salko for each order he reviewed. Dr. Salko did not provide treatment to any of the patients that he placed orders for.
David Santana, former owner and president of Nationwide, pleaded guilty to healthcare conspiracy charges in September 2023.
JCLT fully cooperated with the U.S. during the investigations and has taken action to improve its legal and compliance efforts, according to the settlement agreement.