Mont. hospital, radiology group settle suit

Bozeman Health has settled litigation that alleged the hospital made millions of dollars' worth of fraudulent claims to government healthcare programs as part of an illegal kickback scheme to retain a monopoly on radiology services, according to an article published in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle on November 11.

Brought by former Bozeman radiologists Dr. Frank Rembert and Dr. Michael Paradise in 2016 under the False Claims Act, the suit alleged that Bozeman Health entered into a "sham" joint venture with a radiology group that had been seeking to open its own outpatient imaging center that would have competed with Bozeman Health, according to the Chronicle. The suit, which was filed against Bozeman Deaconess Health Services, Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital, and Advanced Medical Imaging, was dismissed on October 31 at the U.S. District Court in Butte after all parties informed the judge that they had reached a settlement.

The Montana attorney general's office said the Department of Public Health and Human Services will receive $238,820 from the settlement; the plaintiffs' share will be $66,869. A Bozeman Health spokesperson said the hospital denies all the allegations and any wrongdoing, despite the settlement, according to the Chronicle.