Johns Hopkins Health System and Sibley Memorial Hospital settled allegations of improper payment of $5 million.
Sibley Memorial, of Washington, DC, allegedly violated Stark Law between 2008 and 2011 by billing Medicare for services referred to by 10 cardiologists with whom the hospital had financial ties, the Department Justice said Monday.
“Johns Hopkins Medicine discovered and flagged technical non-compliance with the Stark Act in 2011 as part of an admissions review for Sibley Memorial Hospital as it became part of the Health System. Johns Hopkins Hospital,” a health system spokesman wrote in an email. “We immediately self-reported and have worked with the Department of Justice to close the matter in the 12 years since.”
Both the Stark Law and the Countermeasures Act help ensure that doctors’ medical decisions are based on patient interests rather than financial motives. Stark Law, formally known as the Physicians Self Referral Act, prohibits hospitals from billing Medicare for services referred by physicians with whom they have a financial relationship, unless use an exception. The Countermeasures Act prohibits providing or accepting financial payments for the referral of services covered by Medicare or Medicaid.
Johns Hopkins Medicine is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland and includes the Johns Hopkins Health System and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. It operates six academic and community hospitals in Maryland, the Washington, DC, and Florida area. The system acquired Sibley Memorial Hospital in a cashless affiliate deal in 2010.
