Becker's Spine Review

42 HEALTHCARE NEWS Tech company buys 700-physician California network By Laura Dyrda T here's a new nontraditional company in town purchasing physician groups: a London-based digital health company. Babylon, which provides virtual care and health mon- itoring services, purchased Novato, Calif.-based Meri- tage Medical Network in April and plans to open a new office in Palo Alto, Calif. Meritage has 700 physicians who are now part of Babylon, which aims to continue its U.S. expansion. Meritage, an independent practice association, cares for a population of more than 500,000 and has rela- tionships with eight hospitals and other healthcare providers. is acquisition furthers the trend of nontraditional companies, such as insurers or retailers, employing physicians. Optum, a division of UnitedHealth Group, has the largest physician network in the U.S. with 56,000 affiliated, contracted or employed physicians. e company is on track to reach its goal of adding 10,000 more physicians this year aer purchasing the 715-person physician group Atrius Health in Newton, Mass., in March. In April, Humana purchased Kindred at Home, the largest home health provider in the U.S., for $5.7 bil- lion. It also rebranded its healthcare services arm in March as CenterWell, which includes 90 Conviva pri- mary care clinics. Walmart and CVS both also have telehealth services as well as brick-and-mortar clinics that employ health- care providers. Amazon announced plans to broaden its telemedicine program to offer services to large U.S. employers. e nontraditional entrants are focused on bringing primary care physicians into their networks, which are oen a big referral source for specialty care and ASC physicians. As insurers, tech companies and retailers see more op- portunities in healthcare, ASCs will be attractive targets as efficiently run healthcare businesses. Optum already has a chain of hundreds of ASCs, as part of Surgical Care Affiliates, and Amazon Care's services include treatment for back, neck and joint pain. n Physician-owned Kansas hospital accuses former CFO, COO of stealing millions By Laura Dyrda K ansas Heart Hospital, a Wichita-based specialty hospital partially owned by physicians, is accusing its former CFO and COO of diverting funds and pocketing millions before re- signing last year, according to a report from KAKE, an ABC affiliate. Five details: 1. Kansas Heart Hospital filed a lawsuit April 29 against former COO Steve Smith and former CFO Joyce Heismeyer, alleging the two worked with the hospital's president Gregory Duick, MD, to divert millions of dollars between 2015 and 2020 as unauthorized bonus- es, deferred compensation and severance benefits. 2. The lawsuit also alleges the executives wired funds to Dr. Duick's investment group based in Pennsylvania and then withdrew $1.7 million for personal use in 2019. 3. Mr. Smith and Ms. Heismeyer are accused of manipulating hospi- tal computer files to set up a large severance before resigning from their positions last August, according to the report. 4. Mr. Smith and Ms. Heismeyer denied the allegations through a statement from their attorney, according to the report. 5. Dr. Duick is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, according to the report. n Physician gets 59-year prison sentence for fraud, unnecessary surgeries By Laura Dyrda A physician in Chesapeake, Va., was sentenced to nearly six decades in prison May 18, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Javaid Perwaiz, MD, an OB-GYN, was convicted of performing med- ically unnecessary hysterectomies and other procedures from 2010 to 2019. He falsely diagnosed patients with cancer to persuade them they needed surgery, according to court documents. He also advised patients to have surgery to avoid cancer when they didn't need it. Dr. Perwaiz's billing for the unnecessary procedures defrauded health insurance programs of more than $20.8 million, according to the Justice Department. He also billed for diagnostic procedures that were not performed in his office, according to the statement. n

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