Medicine & the Law

It is important to recognize the power of government to exclude providers from the Medicare/Medicaid Program, the reasons used to exclude providers and a new technique being used to avoid provider exclusion.

If you are hired by a practice that is receiving hospital assistance, you may be asked to sign a hospital assistance agreement. This agreement should be drafted so that it is fair to all parties to the transaction.

CMS continues to struggle to define, explain and implement it nearly 19 years since Congress first began regulating physician referral relationships under Pete Stark’s leadership. The latest attempts appear as a “Phase III Final Rule” and as further tinkering in the 2008 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.

Whatever the challenge, it is important for each physician owner to objectively consider their rights and obligations so that they can make the best decisions for themselves and the practice.

Physician investors should consider a variety of options for turning their investments around, and even if the investment cannot be salvaged, should carefully develop a strategy to cut their losses to the extent possible.