Stark Law considerations for structuring and auditing medical director and administrative agreements

[Roger Steven]

When structuring and auditing medical director and administrative agreements; the provisions of the Stark Law need to be taken into careful and full consideration. This is because the Stark Law is the operative law for this kind of arrangement.

Implementation of best practices for negotiating and drafting administrative arrangements on behalf of health systems, hospitals, medical groups and physician practices is necessary for a number of reasons.

High vigilance is called for

Medical directors need to be highly vigilant and diligent when it comes to signing agreements regarding administrative arrangements. It is very important for them to take care of the smallest details when negotiating agreements. The agreement has to be compliant with the requirements of the Stark Law, which consider certain physician actions as unlawful. When health care organizations and physicians develop administrative arrangements, they have to ensure compliance with all the aspects of the Stark Law, including the changes that were introduced into it in 2016.

Failure to take the provisions of the Stark Law into consideration when administrative arrangements organizations and physicians develop agreements could land the practice in trouble. The awards and settlements arising out of Stark Law enforcement actions have been steadily climbing.

Compliance with the Stark Law is not optional

The primary issue that needs to be taken into consideration when healthcare organizations and physicians develop administrative arrangements is to see if their arrangements are defensible under the Stark Law.

Before they move forward with any arrangement; the parties should carefully assess whether the proposed structure and financial terms comply with Stark's technical requirements and meet the core components of defensibility. This will help them defend their agreements legally, should the need for it arise.

Gain familiarity with the Stark Law considerations

The ways of understanding the nuances of this law when drafting medical director and administrative arrangements will be the focus of a webinar that is being organized by MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry.

The speaker at this session, Joseph Wolfe, an attorney with Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C., the largest health care focused law firm in the country, will explain the Stark Law's underlying technical requirements and key aspects of defensibility.

To enroll for this webinar, please Visit, http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=801024/?m...

This course is approved for 1 general credit from the Nevada Board of Continuing Legal Education.

He will offer an overview of the Stark Law, including its 2016 changes. The best practices for negotiating and drafting administrative arrangements on behalf of health systems, hospitals, medical groups and physician practices will also be discussed. He will describe the regulatory requirements, key provisions, valuation considerations and potential pitfalls that should be avoided.

Joseph will cover the following areas at this webinar:

• Provide a general Stark Law overview
• Examine critical regulatory requirements related to medical director and administrative arrangements
• Discuss best practices for drafting medical director and administrative agreements and the related financial terms
• Describe best practices for auditing medical director and administrative agreements
• Review processes for documenting fair market value and commercial reasonableness
• Discuss best practices for auditing existing arrangements and potential pitfalls.