WILLIAMSPORT – Two Pennsylvania health care providers face a False Claims Act lawsuit from a doctor who claims there is a conflict of interest between them in violation of rules for receiving grants.
North Penn Comprehensive Health Services and UPMC Susquehanna are defendants in the lawsuit of Dr. Matthew Heckman, filed Sept. 15 in Williamsport federal court.
At issue is a Jan. 7 grant application from North Penn that claimed it is not a parent, affiliate or subsidiary organization. In reality, UPMC “exercises undue control” over North Penn because its entire board of directors are board members of or are employed by UPMC Wellsboro, the suit says.
“UPMC also requested on multiple occasions during Dr. Heckman’s employment that North Penn’s physicians refer exclusively to UPMC Wellsboro, to the exclusion of nearby competing health systems Guthrie, Geisinger, and University of Rochester Medical Center,” the suit says.
“This violated the federal Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute, which collectively prohibit physicians from engaging in transactions designed to induce or reward patient referrals.”
Heckman voiced his concerns about these and other matters and was fired on April 3, he says. He is represented by lawyers at Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel in Harrisburg.