Paying for Referrals: A Danger to your Freedom

Why Should You Attend:

This session is designed for health care executives, physicians and other health care providers who participate in and receive remuneration from Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs such as TriCare. Several recent cases bring home the realization that the Anti-Kickback Statute is alive, still with us and as viable as ever, and it makes activities that are common in other industries a crime.

As a health care executive, physician or other health care provider, you should be very concerned about the potential for the government to use the Anti-Kickback Statute as one of the prime methods for enforcing the federal fraud and abuse laws. It is also concerning that, along with Stark II (the federal physician anti-referral law), the Anti-Kickback Statute can be and is being used as the basis for an action brought under the Federal False Claims Act. In this webinar, you will learn about the elements of the Anti-Kickback Statute, along with the various exceptions and safe harbors that you can rely on for protection against enforcement under these laws. This is important because under recently enacted health care laws, enforcement and health care fraud task forces have been greatly enhanced. In addition, the Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare), the government has greatly enhanced enforcement resources.

Two cases, The Christ Hospital case in Cincinnati, with a settlement in excess of $100 million and the Hardeman Memorial Hospital case in Texas, with a settlement of $398, 230.56 stand out. In addition, in the Hardeman case, the Texas federal court sentenced former CEO Angela Edwards to 2 ½ years in prison and ordered her to pay $370,657 in restitution. If that is not enough to get your attention, consider the recent cases finding that the “responsible corporate officer doctrine” allows the government to hold hospital CEOs and others directly responsible for the fraud.

Attend this webinar and learn how to protect yourself and your organization.

Areas Covered in the Webinar:

• Federal Civil Anti-Kickback Statute,
• Safe Harbors providing protection under the AKS,
• Enforcement activities involving the AKS,
• The OIG’s Joint Venture Advisory Opinion,
• The OIG’s advisory opinion regarding Physician-Owned Entities, and
• The anti-fraud provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

Who Will Benefit:

• Hospital executives, particularly CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CNOs, and CMOs
• Nursing home executives
• Physicians
• Physician practice managers
• Other healthcare provider executives

William Mack Copeland
Principal, Copeland Law LLC

William Mack Copeland, MS, JD, PhD, LFACHE, practices health care law in Cincinnati at the firm of Copeland Law, LLC, where he is president and CEO. A graduate of Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Bill is a frequent author and speaker on health law topics. He is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association, American, Ohio and Cincinnati Bar Associations. A former hospital chief executive officer, he is a life fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. He was awarded the American College of Health Care Executives Senior-Level Healthcare Executive Regent’s Award in 2007.

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