◆ In a settlement about the free or below-market services of mid-level practitioners, VHS of Michigan Inc., doing business as The Detroit Medical Center Inc. (DMC), Vanguard Health Systems Inc. and Tenet Healthcare Corp. have agreed to pay $29.744 million to settle false claims allegations they paid kickbacks to referring physicians, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said May 31.^[1] DMC runs hospitals in and around Detroit, including Sinai Grace Hospital and Harper University Hospital. Tenet bought Vanguard-owned hospitals and outpatient facilities, including DMC, in October 2013. The government alleged that from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2017, Sinai Grace Hospital and Harper University Hospital provided the services of DMC-employed mid-levels to 13 physicians for free or below fair market value in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, DOJ said. “The government further alleged that the physicians were selected because of their large number of patient referrals to Sinai Grace Hospital and Harper University Hospital and that the purpose of these arrangements was to induce the physicians to refer additional Medicare patients to DMC facilities.” The case was set in motion by a whistleblower.