The U.S. government has launched a False Claims Act suit against Rick Nassenstein, former top dog at a mobile cardiac scan outfit, accusing him of engaging in dodgy pay deals with doctors. Feds claim that Nassenstein, hailing from Florida and the ex-president, CFO, and co-owner of Illinois-based Cardiac Imaging Inc. (CII), orchestrated a scheme to shell out excessive fees to physicians who referred patients to his mobile cardiac PET scan service, against the Stark Law.
"Improper compensation arrangements unnecessarily drive-up healthcare costs and cloud a physician’s medical judgment," said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani, in laying out the case. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton added that cozy financial ties between healthcare providers and referring doctors can skew medical judgments, heaping extra costs on care. They argue such relationships may influence medical decisions based more on financial gain, than patient needs.
Nuclear medicine tests, better known as cardiac PET scans, help doctors check out heart function and diagnose heart diseases. According to the Department of Justice, from at least 2017 through June 2023, Nassenstein had CII cut deals with cardiologists who were allegedly paid for supervising scans while they were off dealing with other patients, or not on the premises at all. It's also claimed these fees covered additional, but not actually provided services.
The case came to light through whistleblower Lynda Pinto, a former billing manager at CII, who filed it under the FCA's qui tam provisions, which allows individuals to sue on the government's behalf and nab a piece of any recovered booty. The Justice Department's Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, are on the case, with help from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. If Nassenstein is found guilty, Uncle Sam could reclaim treble the damages plus penalties.
All this hullabaloo underscores the government's clamp down on healthcare fraud—a big-ticket item leveraged by the FCA. Hotlines like 800-HHS-TIPS are open for the public's tips and complaints on any potential frauds, the feds eager to weed out the siphoning of funds that ought to serve the ailing, not swell the pockets of the cunning.
