Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Subscribers

Secrets to Speedier Room Turnover - November 2013 - Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/208203

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 29 of 156

OSE_1311_part1_Layout 1 11/6/13 8:57 AM Page 30 LEGAL UPDATE Joshua Kaye, JD, and Adam Rogers, JD Dirty Dealing? Whistleblower suit alleges corporate partner rigged share prices to entice new and existing docs to bring cases. A whistleblower lawsuit alleges that Meridian Surgical Partners, the majority owner and operator of 17 ambulatory surgical centers nationwide, bought a majority stake in a surgery center at inflated WHISTLE ON THE PLAY Meridian Surgical Partners prices to incentivize allegedly purchased its stake in an ASC at inflated prices, existing physician-own- then sold minority interests to new surgeons at significant discounts, according to a whistleblower lawsuit. ers to keep bringing cases, and then re-syndicated the ASC a few months later by selling minority interests to new referring physicians at artificially low prices to incentivize them as well. Earlier this year a judge denied a motion to dismiss the whistleblower suit on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence for it to proceed. Here are the lessons we can take from this case. Simmons v. Meridian In the case of Simmons v. Meridian, filed in 2012, Thomas Reed Simmons, the center's business manager from May 2008 to September 2011, accuses Meridian and Treasure Coast Center for Surgery in Stuart, Fla., of offering the highest-referring physicians the opportunity to buy ownership shares at a discount. Mr. Simmons' complaint further alleges that physician-owners were paid higher annual returns on 3 0 O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | N O V E M B E R 2013

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Subscribers - Secrets to Speedier Room Turnover - November 2013 - Outpatient Surgery Magazine