In an Advisory Opinion posted on May 21, the OIG said a hospital could compensate certain physicians who provide care to uninsured patients without the threat of sanctions.
The Opinion centered around an arrangement whereby a non-profit, 400-bed hospital proposed to compensate on-call physicians who provide care to indigent and uninsured patients. The hospital cited a shortage of physicians available to provide the requested services due in part to lack of reimbursement and increased liability for the services performed as reasons for the proposed arrangement.
In issuing the Opinion, the OIG found that the proposed arrangement presented a low risk of fraud and abuse because the hospital provided sufficient safeguards to reduce the risk that it would violate the Anti-Kickback Statute. Factors that supported the OIG’s conclusion included the fact that the hospital certified that the compensation would be fair market value, without regard to business generated between the parties; that the hospital had legitimate reasons for providing the compensation; that the compensation would be offered uniformly to all physicians who meet the criteria for receiving payment; and that the proposed arrangement would promote a public benefit by preventing additional on-call shortages.
The complete Advisory Opinion can be accessed here.