Akron General Health System (AGHS), a regional hospital system based in Akron, Ohio, will pay $21.25 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act of improper relationships with certain referring physicians, resulting in the submission of false claims to the Medicare program. AGHS was acquired at the end of 2015 by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (Clinic) through a full member substitution agreement. This settlement resolves allegations that between August 2010 and March 2016, AGHS paid compensation substantially in excess of fair market value to area physician groups to secure their referrals of patients, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Physician Self-Referral Law, and then submitted claims for services provided to these illegally referred patients, in violation of the False Claims Act. The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits offering, paying, soliciting or receiving remuneration to induce referrals of items or services covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and other federally funded programs.
