The former CEO of a hospital in Rockdale, Texas, has agreed to pay more than $5.3 million to resolve allegations of paying kickbacks to physicians for laboratory referrals.
The settlement resolves allegations that from January 2015 to June 2018, Jeffrey Madison, former CEO of critical access hospital Little River Healthcare, allegedly caused the submission of false claims for lab testing to federal healthcare programs, according to an Oct. 2 Justice Department news release.
The Justice Department also alleged that Doyce Cartrett Jr., MD, received kickbacks for the referrals. From February to May 2017, Mr. Madison allegedly agreed to have the hospital pay Dr. Cartrett $2,000 a month in purported medical director fees after he informed the former CEO of potential referral volume. The hospital did not receive any genuine medical director services from Dr. Cartrett.
Along with the settlement, Mr. Madison is barred from Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare participation for 25 years.