The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has, over the last several years, grown increasingly concerned with percentage-based lease arrangements, indirect financial relationships, per click payments and “under-arrangements” transactions. It has long indicated that changes to the Federal Ethics…
Legal & Regulatory Issues
Stryker has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice, accusing the federal government of using subpoena requests in the ongoing probe of allegations concerning false claims submitted for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, according to published reports.
The Office of the Inspector General recently issued Advisory Opinion 08-08. This Advisory Opinion deals with a physician/hospital joint-venture surgery center. Here, the Advisory Opinion was requested because certain physicians who invested in the joint-venture were themselves not "safe harbor"…
Arecent article in Modern Healthcare reported in its headline that there are "Savings still seen in House measure on doc-ownership of hospitals: CBO (Congressional Budget Office)." I find it almost laughable that there are folks in Washington who think all…
This continues to be a fascinating time in the surgery center area. There continues to be growth, although it is slightly slower. There is also an increasing variety of legal issues and concerns that are facing ASCs. There have also…
Advertisement
The results of peer review proceedings at the another hospital may not be enough to base a dismissal decision upon, according to an opinion issued by the Court of Appeals of California, Fifth District.
CMS created a Stark Act exception in 2006 to let hospitals and other entities provide physicians with software and other assistance relating to implementation of electronic health records systems. Over the past few years, the utilization of this exception has…
The Office of the Inspector General recently issued Advisory Opinion 08-08. This Advisory Opinion deals with a physician/hospital joint-venture surgery center. Here, the Advisory Opinion was requested because certain physicians who invested in the joint-venture were themselves not "safe harbor"…
Lester E. Cox Medical Centers, a health care system headquartered in Springfield, Mo., will pay $60 million to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act, the anti-kickback statute and the Stark statute, according to the U.S. Department of…
According to CMS's recovery audit contractor (RAC) evaluation report, here are the top five hospital services with overpayments from 2005 through March 27.