Sibley Hospital, Johns Hopkins to pay $5M for improper billing

Sibley Hospital and its parent company, Johns Hopkins Health System, agreed to pay $5 million to settle allegations the hospital billed Medicare for services referred by physicians with whom it had a financial relationship.

In a press release Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Sibley violated the Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly known as the Stark Law, which requires medical decision-making be based on patients’ best interests and not influenced by financial incentives.

Between 2008 and 2011, Sibley billed Medicare for services referred by 10 cardiologists to whom it was “paying compensation that exceeded the fair-market value of the services provided,” the DOJ said. This behavior was self-disclosed by Sibley and Johns Hopkins to the agency.