Recent legal developments should give laboratories new cause to tightly monitor efforts to win physician referrals, attorney Jane Pine Wood said at last month’s Executive War College meeting.

In April, the federal government reached a settlement with cardiovascular-disease testing labs Health Diagnostic Laboratory and Singulex to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by paying doctors in exchange for patient referrals. The U.S. Justice Department also alleged the companies billed Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary testing. HDL agreed to pay $47 million to settle the matter, while Singulex will pay $1.5 million.

My latest contribution for “Put It on the Board.” Read the whole shebang.