Steward lures 150 doctors tied to Beth Israel

As healthcare competition heats up in Massachusetts, upstart Boston hospital chain Steward Health Care System has lured away 150 doctors affiliated with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's physician group by making them an offer so generous that Beth Israel's lawyers question whether its terms amount to illegal kickbacks. Steward's offer to the doctors in the Whittier Independent Practice Association, based in Newburyport, could potentially bring them as much as $3 million more next year under one key insurance contract, according to Whittier's estimate. But a law firm hired by Beth Israel suggested that some incentives Steward offered Whittier violate federal and state "anti-kickback" statutes.