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Incentives and Ownership for Hospital-Employed Physicians and for Primary Care Physicians

Written by Scott Becker, JD, CPA
Monday, 28 April 2008
1. Can an ASC offer hospital-employed physicians incentives to use an ASC? It is generally improper to provide financial incentives to a physician in exchange for referring cases to a surgery center. For example, one could not offer hospital-employed physicians special bonuses, monetary gifts or any sort of monetary incentive in exchange for referring patients to physicians who would perform procedures at the new ASC or for such physicians directly performing cases on patients at the new ASC. In contrast, it may be permissible for the hospital-employed physicians to own an interest in the new ASC.
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7 Accounting Tips to Help Your Practice Be More Efficient

Written by Angela Burger and Sheila Wanjiru
Monday, 28 April 2008
It’s easy to get caught up in focusing on the clinical side of your ASC; after all, bringing in procedures and performing them efficiently and at a high level of quality are the foremost keys to producing revenue. But when the cases are done and the patient files turned over to the business office, what can your back office staff do to ensure they, too, perform efficiently and at a high level of quality to complete the revenue puzzle? Here’s a look at seven best practices offered by our experts.
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6 Considerations for Successful Outpatient Knee Replacement

Written by Stephanie Wasek
Monday, 28 April 2008
The ability to perform total knee arthroplasty, or TKA, in the ASC setting depends on state law — you must be allowed to keep patients up to 23 hours, if necessary — but if your state permits overnight stays, such a program can be a lucrative addition to your facility.
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State Alleges Long Island ASC Received $1 Million in Overpayments

Written by Rob Kurtz
Monday, 28 April 2008
An ongoing investigation into out-of-network billing practices by the New York state comptroller has resulted in allegations against a surgery center on Long Island that it inflated bills which cost the state $1 million, according to an audit report from Thomas DiNapoli, the state’s comptroller. This type of investigation reminds ASCs how cautious they must remain as it relates to out-of-network billing practices.
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Keeping Employees Connected 24/7 May Spur Overtime Suits

Written by Stephanie Wasek
Friday, 25 April 2008
If one of your methods for keeping employees connected to the workplace includes handing out BlackBerrys, Treos or other personal digital assistant devices, you may be treading on thin legal ice, according to a story that will run in the April 28 National Law Journal.
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