Athenahealth Settles Kickback Case with Department of Justice

The Department of Justice (DOJ) reached a settlement with Athenahealth (Athena) in its kickback fraud suit. Athena is one of the largest health EHR companies and currently delivers services to over 160,000 providers and 100 million patients. To settle the case, Athena agreed to pay $18.25 million, but admitted no wrongdoing.

The case originated from the DOJ charging that Athena violated both the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act. Specifically, the DOJ accused Athena of employing three illegal marketing programs designed to boost sales. These include inviting potential customers to “luxury” all-expense-paid entertainment events, as well as paying its customers illegal fees to identify potential new clients. A third scheme involved targeting competitor companies that were discontinuing their products and paying them to refer their clients to Athena.

In a statement regarding the settlement, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling stated that kickbacks “corrupt the market for health care services and risk jeopardizing patient safety.” The FBI, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General all participated in the investigation. A joint statement from these agencies said they hope the case will deter other healthcare technology companies from engaging in similar behaviors in the future.