07/05/2024
As a 20+ year medical consultant, I often encounter similar type of situations where Doctors engage private laboratories to provide services to their patients. The problem as of late is that more and more doctors are doing this out of greed versus good. The bad doctor will argue that they’re doing it out of convenience for their patient while the FBI contends that these so called convenient arrangements end up costing insurance companies and the federal government as much as 10 times or more…..and even lead to more “medically unnecessary” testing which could be dangerous to the patient.
As a consultant, I always advise Doctors to discontinue these practices even when they claim they “were not aware” what they were doing was illegal. I remind them that while “knowing & willfully” commitng fraud used to be the standard of proof, that is no longer the case and Doctors and their administrators can now face serious penalties to include criminal prosecution…..even if they weren’t aware that their business schemes with labs were illegal. If the doctor won’t heed my counsel, I will typically walk away and terminate any consulting agreement I may have with them. I’d rather not be associated with a doctor who could be indicted or forced to enter into a plea agreement with the government like the doctors in this story. Last year, over two dozen doctors in Texas alone were investigated or indicted for similar lab agreements.
If you’re a Doctor or administrator and honestly wish to learn more, and you’re willing to make critical changes to your business agreements with vendors , DM me here or contact us at VIP Medical Consulting. We pride ourselves in safeguarding medical offices.
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