Stark Law. Hospitals are often in a constant battle for patients. A steady stream of referrals from physicians can significantly boost a hospital’s revenue and reputation. Here’s why: Because referrals can be so lucrative, there are two laws regulating how those referrals can be made. At a very…
Read More
Referrals drive revenue. Hospitals are often in a constant battle for patients. A steady stream of referrals from physicians can significantly boost a hospital’s revenue and reputation. Here’s why: Increased Patient Volume Physicians are often the first point of contact for patients seeking medical care. When they refer…
Read More
The Ninth Circuit just brought “some discipline . . . to the sometimes loose” use of jurisdiction in the context of the False Claims Act. In Stein v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., the court concluded that a bar for whistleblowers—the “first to file bar”—is merely procedural, not…
Read More
Overbilling, Upcoding, and Unnecessary Medical Procedures. Overbilling Overbilling occurs when healthcare providers charge for more services or more expensive services than were actually provided. It can take several forms: Billing for services not rendered: Providers submit claims for treatments, tests, or procedures that were never actually performed. Duplicate…
Read More
Waivers in employment and separation agreements. Waiver clauses in employment or separation agreements can create a chilling effect by discouraging employees from reporting misconduct or engaging in whistleblower activities. These clauses often try to limit an employee’s ability to report wrongdoing to government authorities, or restrict their right…
Read More
Double invoicing. I struggle to think of any situation where creating a separate set of invoices would be a legitimate business practice. There’s just no legitimate reason to create a whole separate set of books. When it comes to business practices, double invoicing is like the fashion equivalent…
Read More
Incentives matter. Fun fact: It’s hard for a hospital to lose money. Health care spending in the U.S. just keeps going up and up, people are getting older, and medical bills aren’t getting any cheaper. If a hospital is losing money, something is going wrong. The typical response…
Read More
The United States of Licensing In this, the land of freedom and opportunity, we sure do love slapping licenses on just about anything, don’t we? Want to braid someone’s hair? Better get 300 hours of cosmetology training—because you never know when an innocent braid might turn into a…
Read More
The accuracy of lab testing. The basic assumption when taking a test is that the test should give credit for giving the correct answer. If the question is what is 2+2 and you respond 4, you should get credit. If the test gives credit for answering “63,” then…
Read More
I need this job, but… We’ve all been in the position of applying for a job that we want but is just not quite right fit for our resume. You have 8 out of the 10 required skills. And you can fudge the others. You can stretch some…
Read More
