The session will provide an overview of the physician anti-referral law (known as Stark II), and its available exceptions. It will also show how violation of Stark II can raise FCA concerns, and it will provide an assessment of enforcement activities, showing how participants may be at risk. In addition, the session will review recent cases and show how they potentially impact participants.

Claims filed by health care providers require compliance with the Stark rules, and failure to comply can result in that failure being the basis of an enforcement action. We will provide an in-depth review of Stark, focusing on what is prohibited under the Act, what the exceptions are, and how to fit within an exception. While there are several exceptions, it is important to be able to meet the criteria of an exception. We will discuss these criteria and the nuances that must be met. We will also review the case law and show how the courts interpret the law.

Finally, the webinar will review various cases to show how easy it is to run afoul of these rules, and how the courts view compliance with them.  

Areas Covered

Who Should Attend    

Why Should You Attend

This session is designed for healthcare executives, physicians, and other healthcare providers who participate in and receive remuneration from Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs such as TriCare. Several recent cases bring home the realization that violations of Stark are common, and those violations can be used as the basis of a False Claims Act action.  

As a health care executive, physician, or other health care provider, you should be very concerned about the potential for violation of the Stark rules. In this webinar, you will learn about the elements of the Stark II law, along with the various exceptions that you can rely on for protection against enforcement under this law. This is important because under recently enacted healthcare laws, particularly The Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), enforcement and healthcare fraud task forces have been greatly enhanced.  

In Tuomey, the jury award was $279 million and the case settled for $74 million, with the system being sold and the CEO personally paying $1 million and agreeing to be barred from federal healthcare programs for 5 years.

The law actually codifies the American Medical Association ethics rules concerning referrals. We will review these rules and the various exceptions to Stark so that you can be aware of what you can and cannot do regarding referrals.

You will want to attend this webinar to learn how to protect yourself and your organization.

Topic Background    

Recent cases and/or enforcement actions involving the Federal Physician Self-Referral Law (Stark II) raise serious concerns regarding compliance issues with hospitals, physician practices, and other healthcare entities. However, Stark is greatly misunderstood by physicians, as well as healthcare executives.