Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1230114
48 ORTHOPEDICS Neurologist found guilty in $150M fraud scheme alongside 3 other physicians By Angie Stewart A federal jury convicted neurologist Moham- med Zahoor, MD, and three other physicians for participating in a $150 million healthcare fraud scheme, the Department of Justice announced Feb. 4. e four-week trial also culminated in convictions for Michigan pulmonologist Tariq Omar, MD, and emer- gency medicine specialists Spilios Pappas, MD, and Joseph Betro, DO, of Ohio and Michigan, respectively. While working at several Tri-County Group medi- cal clinics in Michigan and Ohio from 2008-16, Drs. Zahoor, Omar, Pappas and Betro allegedly required patients to receive expensive, medically unnecessary services, such as facet joint injections and urinary drug screens in order to obtain prescriptions for opioids, benzodiazepines and other narcotics. Patients who told the physicians they didn't "want, need or benefit from" the expensive, unnecessary injec- tions were denied prescriptions until they agreed to have them. e defendants prescribed over 6.6 million doses of opioids and regularly offered patients 30 milligrams of oxycodone, a dosage only deemed suitable for termi- nally ill cancer patients. Some of their patients suffered from legitimate pain, and others were drug dealers or opioid addicts. In certain cases, the unnecessary shots made patients' pain worse or led to adverse conditions, including open holes in the back. In an "assembly line" type operation, the four phy- sicians would see dozens of patients during shis ranging from two to four hours, prosecutors said. e defendants were paid up to $3,500 an hour by falsely representing medical necessity and exaggerating time spent with patients on Medicare claims. e physicians were also involved in a scheme to send urine tests for every patient to National Laboratories, a business owned by a co-conspirator, in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in illegal kickbacks. e physicians' sentencing hearings are scheduled for July. Each was found guilty of one count of health- care fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud. Previously, 17 other defendants, including eight physicians, pleaded guilty in connection with the case. n What Medtronic's outgoing CEO regrets the most By Angie Stewart D uring Omar Ishrak's nearly nine years as Medtronic CEO, he has been tasked with growing revenue in emerging markets, navigating value-based care and stabilizing the company's spine business, MedCity News reports. When Mr. Ishrak took over in mid-2011, Medtronic's stock price was about $38. Today, it's around $118. With his time at the company's helm coming to an end April 26, when he'll hand the reins to Geoff Martha and transition to an executive chairman role, Mr. Ishrak reflected on his legacy at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. Mr. Ishrak's biggest regret is not paying closer attention to free cash flow sooner than he did, he said in response to a MedCity News reporter's question. "We got too focused on the adjusted EPS number and the fact that the free cash flow is just there and everything is open in terms of currency and one-time events and all of that," he said. "We could have done better if we just paid more attention. And we've seen how quickly we moved the needle on that by getting everyone engaged. We could have done that two years before that or three years before that." n 4 pillars of Stryker's growth strategy from CEO Kevin Lobo By Laura Dyrda S ince Stryker CEO Kevin Lobo took the helm in 2012, the company has nearly doubled revenues. Mr. Lobo discussed his strategy at the Chief Executive's Healthcare CEO Summit in January. Four key notes: 1. Stryker has an aggressive acquisition strategy that prizes add-ons to fit into its existing business so the company can strengthen its position in all lines. "We want to be absolute leaders in the field," Mr. Lobo said at the event. 2. Research and development is an important aspect of the com- pany's acquisitions to ensure the technology is sound. Mr. Lobo reported Stryker spends around 6.5 percent of revenue on R&D. 3. Mr. Lobo prizes de-risked buys and would rather spend extra on acquiring technology he knows will work and then apply Stryker's expertise to scale manufacturing. 4. Finally, Mr. Lobo attributed the company's success to the au- tonomy he gives divisional leaders to innovate and identify the best deals to present at headquarters. n