Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Subscribers

Queasy Feeling - April 2017 - 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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A P R I L 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 2 7 It's Not Easy to Deep-Six Deadwood Docs Forcing out lower-producing physician-owners is fraught with risk. T hey own shares in your surgery center, but they don't do their fair share of cases, which is caus- ing resentment in your ranks. And you want them out. Using the safe harbor requirements to force underperform- ing surgeons to redeem their shares might seem like a good idea, but it can backfire. The safe harbors that protect ambulatory surgery center investment interests are the only safe harbors that require a certain level of referrals. Yet failing to meet one or both of the one-third safe harbor tests — the one-third of income rule and the one-third of cases rule — doesn't automatically disqualify a physician from maintaining an investment or create any real compliance risk. That is because they are only safe harbors. Safe harbors can insulate you from risk, but failing to meet them does not cause a violation of the Anti-Kickback Stature (AKS). Even though one or both of the one-third tests (osmag.net/7KArwB) are not met, the physician might still be in compliance with the AKS. Legal Update John H. Fisher, II • KICKED TO THE CURB As much as you'd like to, resist the temptation to force underperforming physicians to sell back their ownership shares. Pamela Bevelhymer, RN, BSN

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