OIG Notifies Tenet of Potential Exclusion of Alvarado Hospital

May 8, 2006 OIG Notifies Tenet of Potential Exclusion of Alvarado Hospital The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) alleges that from 1992, to 2003, Alvarado Hospital entered into physician relocation agreements through which Alvarado funneled money to existing physician practices in the San Diego area in exchange for patient referrals. Although the relocation agreements were purported to benefit the doctor who actually relocated to the San Diego area, in practice, the agreements primarily benefited the established physician practices where the new doctors were placed. OIG contends these often-excessive payments actually were used to buy referrals. The agreements typically . . .