Becker's ASC Review

9 ASC MANAGEMENT New York state orders physician to close surgery center — 4 insights By Eric Oliver T he New York Board for Professional Medical Conduct ordered Dennis Daly, MD, to close his surgery center in East Syracuse, N.Y., finding he used an unqualified tech- nician during a procedure, Syracuse.com reports. What you should know: 1. Dr. Daly is a family medicine and geriatric physician who practices in Camillus, N.Y. He also operates SNY Surgery Cen- ter. 2. He allegedly performed a hair transplant procedure at the surgery center in 2017 assisted by an individual who did not have a medical license. The board argued Dr. Daly "had reason to know" the person did not have a license. 3. Dr. Daly did not contest the charges. His attorney argued that Dr. Daley thought the technician had proper credentials, and that the technician did not hold a scalpel or make any incisions during the procedure. 4. The board put Dr. Daly on probation for three years, ordered him to close his surgery center and is requiring him to practice under physician supervision while on probation. n Envision snags Optum president to lead company — 4 insights By Eric Oliver O ptumCare President James Rechtin is mov- ing to Nashville, Tenn., to take the helm of Envision Healthcare. What you should know: 1. Mr. Rechtin was appointed as Envision's president and CEO Feb. 26, succeeding recently resigned President and CEO Christopher Holden. 2. Before joining Optum, Mr. Rechtin was a regional president at DaVita Medical Group. 3. In addition to his new roles, Mr. Rechtin joined Envision's board of directors. 4. Envision and its private equity owner KKR have come under fire as of late for their potential roles in surprise medical billing. Envision maintains it is working to end surprise billing. n Feds involved with Nashville ophthalmology group false billing case By Eric Oliver T he federal government is involved with a case against Nashville, Tenn.-based SouthEast Eye Specialists, which is accused of defrauding Medicare of "tens of millions of dollars," e Nashville Post reports. What you should know: 1. Former state Rep. Gary Odom and several affiliates filed a suit against the practice in 2017, alleging kickbacks and improper fee- splitting that defrauded Medicare of several million dollars. e U.S. and state attorney's offices originally declined to intervene in August 2018, but the U.S. Attorney recently reversed course and joined the investigation. 2. According to the original complaint, SouthEast Eye Specialists allegedly paid kickbacks to optometrists to refer patients to the practice for surgery. ey did this through co-management agreements where the ophthalmologist performing the surgery would receive 80 percent of the Medicare fee and the referring optometrist would receive 20 percent of the fee. While co-management agreements are com- mon in the field, the practice and its physi- cians allegedly abused them for financial gain. 3. Federal prosecutors have not yet filed their complaint, but did make a motion to add the practice's co-founders to the lawsuit. 4. SouthEast Eye Specialists is backed by Fl- expoint Ford, a private equity firm. With the support of Flexpoint, the practice set up a patient referral program with the Center for Facial Rejuvenation in Chattanooga, Tenn. is referral program is not under question. 5. SouthEast Eye operates two surgery cen- ters and 19 Tennessee locations. 6. SouthEast Eye Specialists issued a state- ment on the case: "SouthEast Eye Specialists is deeply commit- ted to providing the highest quality clinical care possible to those we serve. We provide management services to a group of thriving, well-respected physician practices and surgery centers, and hold ourselves to the very highest legal, ethical and compliance standards. Just as we have from the beginning of this lawsuit, which began nearly three years ago, we believe our business practices are in full com- pliance with the law, that these allegations are without merit, and we will continue to defend vigorously our model of care, as well as the critical role optometrists play in patient care. In no way does this complaint question the quality of patient care offered by our dedicat- ed physicians, skilled clinicians and talented employees. We are tremendously proud of our team and intently focused on what's most important: providing the best care and experience possible to those we serve." n

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