Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1388297
38 ASC The OIG's ASC joint- venture opinion: 10 deep-dive details By Laura Dyrda T he HHS Office of Inspector General issued a favorable opinion approving a joint-venture ASC arrangement between physicians, a management company and health systems in May. e management company will own 8 percent of the center and provide consulting services while the health system and group of eight orthopedic and neurosurgeon investors would each own 46 percent. In a blog post, Bartt Warner, director of compensation arrangements at VMG Health, wrote that much of the OIG's April 29 decision relies on the health system's cer- tifications and outlined several safeguards to mitigate risk. Ten details: 1. New physician owners can invest directly, but not through a pass-through entity. 2. e facility's real estate will be owned by the health system, physicians and management company. 3. e health system and real estate company can enter into space and equipment leases and services arrangements with the ASC. 4. Physicians are required to meet the one-third rule to meet ASC safe harbor provisions, and the management company will oversee compliance. e orthopedic surgeons will derive one-third of their income in the previous fiscal year from ASC-qualified procedures, while the neurosurgeons will not. 5. e physicians will rarely refer patients to each other. e estimated case volume referred between owners should be less than 1 percent under the arrangement. 6. Investors will provide patients with a written notification of their ownership in the ASC when making referrals. 7. e health system and management company can't en- courage referrals to the center. 8. e health system's affiliated physicians will receive fair market value compensation, which won't be related to the vol- ume or value of referrals to the center or physician investors. 9. e ASC's owners will receive distributions and capital contributions proportional to their ownership interest. 10. New ASC investors will not be given ownership based on past or future case volume or value of referrals to the center. n Tennessee signs certificate-of- need law that increases ASC fees by 1900% By Patsy Newitt T ennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed into law a revision to the state's certificate-of-need requirements, raising ASC certificate of need annual fees from $100 to $2,000. The bill, signed May 26, increases fees for most healthcare providers, which lawmakers say will bring in $1.3 million in revenue per year. The legislation raises hospital annual fees from $300 to up to $5,000 and decreases the CON application process by 75 days. Additionally, mental health hospitals and hospital-based out- patient treatment centers for opioid addiction would be ex- empt and not require a certificate-of-need to open. n Resurgens Orthopaedics opens ASC equipped with surgical robot for joint replacements By Alan Condon A tlanta-based Resurgens Orthopaedics has opened a 31,000-square-foot facility that features an ASC and a Mako robot for joint replacements in Mc- Donough, Ga. Four things to know: 1. The facility has two operating rooms, two procedure rooms, 25 treatment rooms, 12 pre- and postoperative stations and a physical therapy center. 2. Six physicians will practice at the center: Gary Stewart, MD; Jason Brustein, DO; Bernard Bush, MD; Scott Cahoon, MD; Sravan Dhulipala, MD; and Jack Pines, MD. 3. Drs. Brustein, Cahoon, Bush and Charles Claps, DO, from Resurgens' Fayetteville and Newnan, Ga., locations, are trained to use the Mako robot for robotic-assisted knee sur- geries. 4. Resurgens has more than 100 physicians and 24 offices throughout metro Atlanta. n