Compliance Tip: All attorney's are not the same...
Most medical practices have a law firm either on retainer or are a known client to assist with issues that arise. However, it is important to note that while your attorney may provide great services to your practice, if they are not an attorney with healthcare experience you may end up down a non-compliant path. While speaking to colleague David Glaser, noted healthcare attorney out of Pennsylvania, mentioned speaking to a recent inquiry by a nameless practice who had questioned a new service they were interested in providing. The practice had done their due diligence regarding P&L for the service and had even sent the idea to their own attorney of record for review. Their attorney provided them written approval indicating that the practice they desired to engage in was appropriate; however, after talking about the idea to their practice management consultant, concern was raised and the practice was advised to get the opinion of an attorney who specializes in healthcare. Upon reviewing the case, Mr. Glaser referred to the idea for the new service as "walking in felony-land." While your attorney of record means well and can provide valuable guidance and legal advise for your practice, if the concern is based on healthcare laws such as Stark, Anti-kickback, or False Claims, the best advise is to consult a healthcare attorney. DoctorsManagement is a full service physician based consulting firm. In the business since 1956 with the goal in mind to help providers in their busy day to get back to medicine and let us help grow their practice. Our services are extensive providing consulting in practice management, OSHA, CLIA, HIPAA, HR, Accounting, Billing, Credentialing, Coding, Group Purchasing, and Compliance Auditing. Let our Senior Advisor help determine how we can help in your organization to grow your practice. http://www.doctors-management.com/