Stock & Bill
Todd Griffin
Description
Collection
Title:
Stock & Bill
Creator:
Todd Griffin
Date:
8/18/2001
Text:
Dear OANDP-L'ers
This FYI is the result of insomnia! This is for all of you who are itching
to stick it to the ortho's and the Stock and Bill companies who think
their arrangement is in violation of the Stark Law, or the Stark Law 2 for
that matter:
First, some interesting reading (HA!):
www.hcfa.gov/regs/physicanreferral/default.html
Click on the Word Perfect document for Section VI.
On pages 170-172, a commenter asks whether the general concept of the Stock
and Bill program is legal. The response states that if the terms of the
lease of space and the arrangement for the personal services of the
technician fit within the terms of the rental and personal service
arrangement exceptions in the law, it is NOT in violation of the Stark Law.
The response goes on to warn of the pitfalls of not meeting those criteria.
What exactly are those criteria?
Next, go to
<URL Redacted>
This is Special Fraud Alert from the Office of the Inspector General on the
issue of office space rental. It basically states that anything other than
the supplier paying fair market value for the actual space being used is
not legal. Guess what? I can all but assure you that all the major players
in this arena (I don't think I need to name names) are completely in
compliance with these requirements! They do too much business around the
country to take the risk of breaking this law to land one account. And I
can also assure you, they have plenty of legal counsil that ensures they
stay on the right side of this law.
As far as the personal service arrangement exception of the Law, I
searched high and low but could not find the part of the documentation that
clearly defines this (sorry, I'm not a lawyer!). However, one can assume
(carefully) that as long as the reimbursement is equivalent to the ortho
tech's normal pay scale and for the appropriate amount of time the
technician spends performing these functions and not the functions of the
ortho clinic, it should be legal. An example of this would be if an ortho
group sees enough patients that one employee would spend 25% of his time in
the office doing all the measuring, fitting, restocking, handling paperwork
for the S&B, etc., then the supplier would pay that 25%. I can practically
guarantee you that this one isn't being broken, because if anyone was
getting a kickback, it sure wouldn't be the ortho tech!
What's the moral of this story? THE BIG GUYS ARE (MORE THAN LIKELY) PLAYING
BY THE RULES!!! I'm sure there are isolated exceptions out there, but I am
sure there are a few of you out there that either knowingly or unknowingly
cross one of the gillion lines the government draws in the sand! The bigger
risk are the small-time local outfits that have thrown together a S&B
program. Their pockets probably aren't as deep to pay for legal research,
so they may (emphasize MAY) be in violation, either knowingly or
unknowingly.
So if any of you have the intestinal fortitude to approach a doctor
questioning the legality of one of his or her business ventures, you'd
better do your homework! I welcome any comments directly to me, which I
will happily repost collectively (including the flamers, which I am sure
will come). I just wanted to make one effort to put this tired issue to bed
once and for all in this forum!!
Sincerely,
J. Todd Griffin MS, ATC
P.S. Before you ask, I used to be a rep for one of the companies that
offers this type of program, but I do not have any current involvement in
any type of S&B.
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <URL Redacted>
This FYI is the result of insomnia! This is for all of you who are itching
to stick it to the ortho's and the Stock and Bill companies who think
their arrangement is in violation of the Stark Law, or the Stark Law 2 for
that matter:
First, some interesting reading (HA!):
www.hcfa.gov/regs/physicanreferral/default.html
Click on the Word Perfect document for Section VI.
On pages 170-172, a commenter asks whether the general concept of the Stock
and Bill program is legal. The response states that if the terms of the
lease of space and the arrangement for the personal services of the
technician fit within the terms of the rental and personal service
arrangement exceptions in the law, it is NOT in violation of the Stark Law.
The response goes on to warn of the pitfalls of not meeting those criteria.
What exactly are those criteria?
Next, go to
<URL Redacted>
This is Special Fraud Alert from the Office of the Inspector General on the
issue of office space rental. It basically states that anything other than
the supplier paying fair market value for the actual space being used is
not legal. Guess what? I can all but assure you that all the major players
in this arena (I don't think I need to name names) are completely in
compliance with these requirements! They do too much business around the
country to take the risk of breaking this law to land one account. And I
can also assure you, they have plenty of legal counsil that ensures they
stay on the right side of this law.
As far as the personal service arrangement exception of the Law, I
searched high and low but could not find the part of the documentation that
clearly defines this (sorry, I'm not a lawyer!). However, one can assume
(carefully) that as long as the reimbursement is equivalent to the ortho
tech's normal pay scale and for the appropriate amount of time the
technician spends performing these functions and not the functions of the
ortho clinic, it should be legal. An example of this would be if an ortho
group sees enough patients that one employee would spend 25% of his time in
the office doing all the measuring, fitting, restocking, handling paperwork
for the S&B, etc., then the supplier would pay that 25%. I can practically
guarantee you that this one isn't being broken, because if anyone was
getting a kickback, it sure wouldn't be the ortho tech!
What's the moral of this story? THE BIG GUYS ARE (MORE THAN LIKELY) PLAYING
BY THE RULES!!! I'm sure there are isolated exceptions out there, but I am
sure there are a few of you out there that either knowingly or unknowingly
cross one of the gillion lines the government draws in the sand! The bigger
risk are the small-time local outfits that have thrown together a S&B
program. Their pockets probably aren't as deep to pay for legal research,
so they may (emphasize MAY) be in violation, either knowingly or
unknowingly.
So if any of you have the intestinal fortitude to approach a doctor
questioning the legality of one of his or her business ventures, you'd
better do your homework! I welcome any comments directly to me, which I
will happily repost collectively (including the flamers, which I am sure
will come). I just wanted to make one effort to put this tired issue to bed
once and for all in this forum!!
Sincerely,
J. Todd Griffin MS, ATC
P.S. Before you ask, I used to be a rep for one of the companies that
offers this type of program, but I do not have any current involvement in
any type of S&B.
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <URL Redacted>
Citation
Todd Griffin, “Stock & Bill,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 6, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/217185.
