A Guide to Preventing Sexual Harassment at Your Practice
When it comes to sexual harassment in the workplace, physicians must adhere to higher standard.
Typical Mistakes When Applying a Common Stark Exception
Unlike the Anti-kickback Statute (AKS), when Stark Law applies, the only safe way to make a referral is to fit squarely within an exception.
Commercial Payers Aggressively Pursue Financial Arrangements
A recent case shows physicians that while commercial payers don't have badges and guns, they can hit your wallet hard.
Hospital-Doctor Clawback Provisions in Employment Contracts
Watch out for aggressive language in hospital employment agreements requiring physicians to recoup all payments to insurance companies.
Legal Pain Management for Physicians
Legal advice on how to ensure you don't get in trouble for negligent conduct in taking care of a patient with a drug-seeking problem.
Telemedicine Wins Big in Texas, After Lengthy Battle
How does the recent telemedicine ruling in Texas correlate to mail-order pharmacies? Martin Merritt explains in this blog.
Bankruptcy Clawbacks Create New Headaches for Physicians
If physicians didn't have enough to worry about with fraud, they should be wary of bankruptcy trustees seeking "claw backs."
Repeal and Replace Debacle Not All Bad News for Physicians
The AHCA would have likely brought back "post-claims underwriting," which would have been bad news for physicians.
The Problem with the New OIG Safe Harbor Regulations
As Otto Von Bismarck once said, "If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made." That's true for new Safe Harbor regulations.
The Ugly Case of Healthcare Fraud in Texas
More than 20 healthcare professionals from a hospital in Texas are being charged with a kickback conspiracy involving over $500 million in insurance claims.
Is Your Patient Telling the Truth?
A former FBI agent talks about the sure tell signs that a patient may be lying to you.
Supreme Court Issues False Claims Act Opinion
Stricter government standards for the FCA suggest that physicians who do not meet all measures of compliance could be required to refund claims payment.
New CMS Rules Could Make it Harder for Practices to Sell
CMS has altered rules around payments to hospital based outpatient departments (HOPDs), which could have an effect on a practice's value to hospitals.
What Should Practices Know about Waiving Copays?
Government and commercial insurers have different policies practices must know about waiving copayments. What do practices have to know?
Marketing Company Indicted in $65M TRICARE Fraud
The personal services safe harbor law exists to protect physicians from prosecution when they receive payments for legitimate services.
What Physicians Should Know about Non-Compete Clauses
What do physicians have to know about non-compete clauses in their contracts? Here's some information on the common contract device.
Kicked Out of a Preferred Provider Network? Here's Help
More administrators are threatening to kick providers out of a preferred provider network. Here's tips on how to avoid this fate.
What to Know about Claims Audits from Payers
Insurance plans are using the audit process to recoup payments for services which were preauthorized, based on charting. What should practices know?
A Stroke of Luck for Overregulated Healthcare Industry
On Friday the 13th, a ruling against the FTC was a stroke of good luck for the rest of the healthcare industry, which is already overregulated.
Is Your Lab Paying Your Practice an Illegal Kickback?
A recent case alleges one lab paid physicians improper fees to use their services. Make sure the same isn't happening at your practice.
Physicians: Protect Your Data from Hackers in 5 Steps
Doctors have a lot of valuable personal and professional data on their laptops and other devices. Here are five simple ways to keep that data secure.
Waiving Patient Payments a Kind, but Problematic, Gesture
You may want to help patients experiencing financial difficulties and you can, but be sure to do it the right way to avoid a payer audit and penalty.
Tax Court Rules on Physician-Hospital Employment Bonuses
A recent U.S. Tax Court ruling should provide food for thought for physicians accepting guaranteed bonus payments from their hospital employer.
OIG Offers Overbilling, Kickback Guidance to Hospitals
The OIG may very well be signaling its intention to hold boards, or even individual board members, responsible for oversight responsibility for their organizations.
Texas Medical Board Unplugs Telemedicine for Some
A new rule in Texas aims to expand the use of telemedicine, but it may have the reverse effect for some patients who may need it most.
Stark Law and Anti-Kickback: What Physicians Should Know
If you have federal health plan patient, you need to pay careful attention to the rules of the Stark Law and the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.
CMS' Self-Disclosure Protocol: Good Intent, Bad Process
While the concept of physicians disclosing potential wrongdoing might appear valid on paper, it is actually more trouble that it is worth.
High Court Gives Teeth to Physician Exclusion Cases
Can a Supreme Court ruling on teeth whitening make the case against physician exclusion in narrow networks, exchange plans, etc.? Perhaps.
Is This the Year the "Doc Fix" Becomes Reality?
Without a compromise by March 31, physicians treating Medicare patients will face a 21 percent reduction in payments. But there is hope.
There is No Perfect State for Physicians to Practice
A new ranking of best states for physicians to practice by the AAPS has its limits, but provides interesting food for thought.