On January 3, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) published Advisory Opinion No. 23-12, approving a physician-owned hospital’s offer to redeem over a two-year period the...more
In a prior blog post, we discussed U.S. ex. rel. Shannon Martin, M.D. v. Darren Hathaway, M.D. et al, a Sixth Circuit case involving the questions (1) whether a hospital’s decision not to hire an ophthalmologist (Dr. Martin)...more
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently posted Advisory Opinion 22-20, approving an acute care hospital’s arrangement under which its employed nurse practitioners...more
On April 28, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published Advisory Opinion 22-09, declining to approve a laboratory company’s proposal to pay hospitals a fair market...more
Hospitals and Other Providers Should Make Sure Any Items or Services of Value That They Provide to Their Referring Physicians To Alleviate Burnout Comply With the Stark Law - Amidst the ongoing labor market shortages and...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 30, no. 4 (February 1, 2021) - Saint Peter’s University Hospital and New Brunswick Cardiac Cath Lab LLC in New Jersey have agreed to pay $3.04 million to settle a civil monetary penalty case...more
Practitioners in the Medicare or Medicaid managed care space place heavy reliance on the protection of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) Safe Harbor found at 42 C.F.R. § 1001.952(t), generally known as the “EMCO [eligible...more
The Ethics in Patient Referrals Act (“Stark”) prevents hospitals from paying employed or contracted physicians in the same way that physicians are or were paid by independent physician groups. Specifically, physician groups...more
On December 7, 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a final rule to amend the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS or Statute) by adding new safe harbors. The Final Rule...more
The federal anti-kickback statute (42 USC § 1320a-7b(b), the “Statute”) prohibits individuals and entities from receiving or soliciting any remuneration for the referral of services reimbursable under any federal health care...more
In a development that is limited in scope but still welcomed by hospitals, the proposed 2016 Physician Fee Schedule proposes a number of new exceptions to the physician self-referral or Stark law and other refinements that...more
Assistance to Employ a Non-Physician Practitioner (NPP) - Currently under the Stark law, the physician recruitment exception (42 C.F.R. § 411.357(e)) permits hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and...more
The OIG recently posted an Advisory Opinion which concluded that a hospital's proposal to provide free access to an electronic interface between the hospital and area physicians for laboratory and diagnostic services was not...more