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DENVER (AP) — DaVita HealthCare Partners will pay $389 million to settle an anti-kickback investigation involving kidney patients, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
The payment includes $350 million for the settlement and a civil forfeiture fine of $39 million for two specific joint ventures it entered into with physicians in Denver.
The Justice Department said that between March 2005 and last February, DaVita identified physicians with a significant number of patients with renal disease. DaVita then offered the doctors lucrative opportunities to partner with the company by acquiring or selling an interest in dialysis clinics to which their patients would be referred for dialysis treatment.
"Health care providers should generate business by offering their patients superior quality services or more convenient options, not by entering into contractual agreements designed to induce physicians to provide referrals," said Jonathan Olin, deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's civil division.
DaVita said in a prepared statement there was no intentional wrongdoing, and the settlement was the right move for the company and its shareholders.
The Denver Post reported (http://dpo.st/1FFcSAs ) the settlement resolves allegations originally brought in a whistleblower lawsuit.
As part of the settlement, DaVita agreed to have an independent monitor review its arrangements with physicians.
DaVita operates about 2,100 dialysis clinics and has entered into about 300 ventures with doctors. The company treats about 170,000 patients in the United States at outpatient dialysis centers.
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Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com
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