Creative Hospice Care — Medical Director Kickbacks
Hospice Company Pays $9.2 Million for Kickback Scheme
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
TL;DR: Hospice Company Pays $9.2 Million for Kickback Scheme This case resulted in a $9.2 Million resolution and demonstrates the impact of whistleblower protections in recovering funds from fraud.
Summary
Creative Hospice Care, Inc. and its affiliates agreed to pay $9.2 million to resolve allegations that the hospice company violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to medical directors in the form of stipends and sign-on bonuses in exchange for referrals. DOJ alleged the compensation paid varied with the volume of referrals the physicians made, rather than reflecting fair market value for legitimate services.
Our Take
Hospice medical director kickback cases often involve compensation structures where payment clearly tracks referral volume rather than actual oversight duties. Insiders typically have access to the agreements, payment records, referral tracking, and any communications linking stipends to expected patient census. If you've seen medical director arrangements where the real job is delivering patients, preserve the compensation formulas and any admissions tracking tied to specific physicians.
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Notice
The summaries above are based on publicly available information released by the U.S. Department of Justice and are provided for informational purposes only. They do not constitute legal advice, investigative findings, or allegations by Disclosure Strategy. Our commentary reflects general, experience-based observations about how False Claims Act matters commonly arise and is not a statement about any party's liability.