Image of male nurse pushing senior woman in a wheelchair in nursing facility

A federal jury recently convicted a Philadelphia physician of receiving kickbacks from a hospice provider in exchange for referring Medicare and Medicaid patients. Eugene Goldman, M.D., will be sentenced in September, and faces up to 25 years in prison.

Goldman, 55, served as medical director for now-defunct Home Care Hospice Inc., which provided hospice services at nursing homes, hospitals and private residences. Between 2000 and 2011, Goldman received about $263,000 in illegal payments from HCH, according to charges brought by the Department of Justice.

A contract made it appear that Goldman’s HCH payments were for services rendered as medical director when he was really being paid for referring Medicare and Medicaid patients. Goldman was captured on tape receiving kickback payments in January, February and March of 2009, according to the DOJ.

Goldman was convicted on five counts of violating the anti-kickback statute and now faces up to five years of jail time for each count. He could also lose his medical license, and will be excluded from participating in any federal healthcare program.