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A crush of physicians, anesthesiology staffing firms, and outpatient surgery centers in Georgia will pay $28 million to resolve federal kickback allegations -- but the physician whistleblower who helped set the proceedings in motion died before she could see the outcome.

Kathleen Hartney-Velazco, MD, owner of Capitol Anesthesiology, near Centennial, Colorado, along with her husband, Antenor Velazco, MD.

Hartney-Velazco, Capitol Anesthesiology, and Jan Kersey (whose LinkedIn says she's a vice president at the anesthesiology group) originally filed their complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, (DOJ).

They had alleged that from 2005 to 2015, Ambulatory Anesthesia of Atlanta and Northside Anesthesiology Consultants made payments -- for drugs, supplies, equipment, and labor -- and provided free staffing to a number of Georgia outpatient surgery centers in order to become their exclusive anesthesiology providers.

DOJ noted that anesthesiology providers compete aggressively for exclusive contracts with hospitals and outpatient surgery centers, but giving kickbacks for patient referrals is illegal under the Anti-Kickback Statute, and that the relationships ultimately led to violations of the False Claims Act.

A total of 11 physicians, an administrator, and 12 companies -- including the staffing firms, surgery centers, and a diagnostics company -- entered into settlement agreements with the U.S. government, according to DOJ. The agency alleged that Stanford Plavin, MD, negotiated many of the arrangements on behalf of Ambulatory Anesthesia of Atlanta and Northside Anesthesiology Consultants.

"A physician's healthcare decisions should be based solely on what is in the patient's best interest, not what increases the physician's bottom line," Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt Erskine said in a statement. "There are significant consequences for healthcare providers who put their own financial well-being ahead of the well-being of their patients."

DOJ noted that the claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and that there's been "no determination of liability."

Neither Kersey nor one of Hartney-Velazco's daughters returned a request for comment, but , she founded Capitol Anesthesiology in 1993. "Forming companies when she saw an unmet need became her forte," her obituary noted.

Prior to that, Hartney-Velazco had earned her MD from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and completed a residency in anesthesiology.

In 1996, she was recruited by the Joint Commission and became a surveyor in their ambulatory surgery division, according to the obituary.

Both Hartney-Velazco and her husband had gotten pilot's licenses some 13 years ago and had "spent countless hours in the air," the obituary said.

Hartney-Velazco, Kersey, and Capitol Anesthesiology were awarded $4.7 million of the settlement, according to the DOJ.

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