New Orleans Affiliate of Tenet Healthcare Receives Subpoena for Records
New Orleans-based People's Health Network, an affiliate of Santa Barbara-based Tenet Healthcare, has received a subpoena from the U.S. attorney's office for records that date from 1999 to the present, the Wall Street Journal reports (Wall Street Journal, 10/7). Tenet has a 50% membership interest in PHN, which provides business services to Tenet Choices, a Medicare HMO and a Tenet subsidiary (AP/Long Island Newsday, 10/6). The subpoena seeks membership data, articles of incorporation and bylaws and documents related to several New Orleans-area independent physician groups that have membership interests in People's Health. Tenet officials said that the subpoena does not indicate the "focus or extent of the criminal inquiry," according to the Journal (Wall Street Journal, 10/7). However, Tenet Spokesperson Harry Anderson said, "There's nothing in the subpoena related to Tenet Healthcare, or to Tenet hospitals" (Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times, 10/7). Since October 2002, the Senate Finance Committee, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the HHS Office of Inspector General and the Federal Trade Commission have launched separate investigations into Tenet related to alleged Medicare fraud and other issues; the company also faces investigations by the Florida Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles (California Healthline, 9/29). Tenet officials said that they expect People's Health to cooperate with the U.S. attorney's office investigation (AP/Long Island Newsday, 10/6). James Letten, U.S. attorney in New Orleans, did not comment on the case (Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times, 10/7).
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