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Posts Tagged ‘ASC Safe Harbor’

Ambulatory Surgery Centers – Federal Settlement Highlights Safe Harbor Requirements

Monday, September 29th, 2014

ASC Investments Safe HarborsA Tennessee based ambulatory surgery center company has agreed to pay damages to a former employee who filed a suit alleging that physician investments in local surgery center entities violated the Anti-kickback Statute.  The case highlights some of the unique kickback issues that are present in ambulatory surgery center structure.  Specifically, the case demonstrates how investment terms that are intended to assure compliance with the safe harbor regulations under the Medicare Anti‑Kickback Statute (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(a)-(b)) can create evidence of non-compliance if the initial terms of the offering relate, in whole or in part, to the volume or value of expected referrals from the investor in the ASC venture.

In order to comply with safe harbor requirements, ASCs must generally require investing physicians to use the facility as an extension of their medical practices.  However, if the terms of the investment are based on the volume or value of referrals, those same requirements become evidence that referrals are being required in exchange for remuneration.  In the Tennessee case, the ASC management company purchased controlling interests in local surgery center entities at a high multiple of earnings.  Physicians who were referral sources were offered investments at less than 1/3 of the value that was applicable to the non-referring management company.  That differential in value was evidence of “remuneration” under the Anti-kickback Statute and also indicated that investment terms were more advantageous based on expected referrals.

Structuring ambulatory surgery center investments to comply with Anti-kickback requirements is an extremely complex task.  Indications of compliance can become evidence of non-compliance depending on initial investment terms.  Cases such as the Tennessee case illustrate the problems that can occur when safe harbor requirements are not complied with and when decisions on investment or exclusion are made based on past or anticipated referrals.  The Tennessee case also illustrates how these issues come to light.  The Tennessee case was filed as a whistleblower case by a former administrator of one of the local surgery centers who walked away with a settlement in the millions of dollars.

We have published a more complete analysis of the Tennessee case which you can access through the following link   ASC-Investment-Federal-Case

Ambulatory Surgery Center Safe Harbor Regulations

Friday, July 15th, 2011

Ambulatory Surgery Center – Anti-kickback Issues and Safe Harbor Regulation Compliance

Ambulatory Surgery Center StructuresMore and more procedures are being performed in Ambulatory Surgical Centers. The CMS has recently expanded the procedures that it considers to be safely performed in an ASC. Clearly, the trend is to move many procedures to an outpatient facility unless the health care needs of the patient clearly require an inpatient presence. One of the primary sources of capital for these new ASC ventures is often the physicians who are involved in performing procedures in the ASC or sending business to the ASC. From a purely business point of view, it makes sense to have investors who have a direct financial interest in seeing that the business succeeds, However, from the point of view of the party paying for the care, this same financial interest can lead to an increased and arguably unnecessary levels of procedures performed in the facility. The Medicare and Medicaid program, and many states, have enacted the Anti-kickback Statutes and other anti-referral laws that prohibit, or at least limit, the financial interests that a referring provider can have with an organization where there is any control over the referral flow to that entity.

Anti-Kickback Statute Prohibition

This is where the Federal Anti-kickback Statute comes into play by prohibiting the payment of any form of remuneration between parties where referrals are involved. The federal Anti-Kickback Statute proscribes the offering, payment, solicitation or receipt of any remuneration in exchange for a patient referral or referral of other business for which payment may be made by any Federal health care program. Violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute is a federal felony and can result in substantial prison time and criminal monetary penalties. Violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute can also serve as a basis for imposition of Civil Monetary Penalties. Enforcement of the Federal Anti-kickback Statute has been on the rise since the mid-1980s. Today, the federal government has made health care fraud one of its top priorities. We are hearing about new prosecutions on an almost daily basis as the government ramps up its enforcement through the creation of the HEAT program.

ASC Ownership and the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute

When we look at a typical Ambulatory Surgical Center venture, the primary concern is when the physicians who make referrals to the entity and provide services in the entity receive remuneration from the entity, This normally will involve remuneration in the form of a return on an investment interest. The referring physician may purchase an ownership or investment interest in the company that is set up to operate the ASC.  The ASC can be set up with capital contributions from a number of physicians or it may involve a hospital sponsored ASC that seeks additional capital investment from physicians.

Regardless of the exact structure, the Anti-kickback Statute will come into play to govern the structure and ongoing operation of the ASC. The ASC venture must be structured from the start to comply with the Anti-Kickback Statute. It must also be monitored on an ongoing basis to assure that it does not fall out of compliance with the Anti-Kickback Statute.

John H. Fisher

Health Care Counsel
Ruder Ware, L.L.S.C.
500 First Street, Suite 8000
P.O. Box 8050
Wausau, WI 54402-8050

Tel 715.845.4336
Fax 715.845.2718

Ruder Ware is a member of Meritas Law Firms Worldwide

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