Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Subscribers

Say Yes to Total Hips - March 2014 - Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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Mark F. Weiss, JD LEGAL UPDATE 2 6 O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | M A R C H 2 0 1 4 The Dangers of Trying to Profit from Anesthesia Risk running afoul of anti-kickback law when you take what's not yours. P hysician-owners who try to profit from anesthesia services often violate, knowingly or unknow- ingly, the Anti- Kickback Statute, put- ting themselves at risk of fines, disqualifica- tion from federal healthcare programs and even incarceration. These so-called "company model" arrange- ments, in which the physicians' practice employs the anesthesia providers and bills for their services, also raise a pair of serious com- pliance questions: • Is granting exclusive rights to a physician-owned anesthesia com- pany a kickback in itself? • Would participation in a company model arrangement invalidate the facility's use of the statute's ASC safe harbor? The following scenarios show how the company model might unex- pectedly spark regulatory trouble. Exclusive arrangement The Green Acres ASC is in desperate need of new business. For 10 years, it has contracted with Centerville Anesthesia, a group of 6 anes- thesiologists working full-time at the facility, to provide services. A group of 9 surgeons approaches Green Acres. They're interested in investing in the ASC and bringing all of their cases to its ORs. But, DON'T GET TRAPPED Is your facility's anesthesia arrange- ment a kickback liability risk? OSE_1403_part1_Layout 1 3/5/14 11:29 AM Page 26

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