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
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
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