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
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
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
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