Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1428581
8 ASC MANAGEMENT Stark law clarifies profit allocation for group practices: 5 things to know By Patsy Newitt T he Stark regulations governing group practice rules will change Jan. 1. Business law publication Lexology laid out the new clarifications to group practice profit allocation. Unless an exception applies, Stark law prohibits physicians from referring patients for specified "designated health services" to a group the physician is financially involved with. Many medical groups rely on an in- office ancillary services exception, which requires the group to qualify as a "group practice." Groups that qualify for the excep- tion are then subject to the profit allocation restrictions. Here are five clarifications to the group practice profit allocation rules: 1. Profit allocations and productivity bonus- es can indirectly take into account volume or value of referrals. 2. "Overall profits" means the profits from all designated health services of any component of the group that consists of at least five physicians. 3. Profits from all of the services of the group should be accumulated and then distributed. A group practice cannot distribute profits on a service-by-service basis — also known as split-pooling. 4. e reference to Medicaid was removed from a provision that allows certain methods for distributing profit shares. 5. e requirements for paying productivity bonuses now match the provisions address- ing the distribution of overall profits. n Hawaii CMO sues surgery center, hospital over alleged coerced resignation By Marcus Robertson E lizabeth Groshong, DO, CMO of Kona (Hawaii) Community Hospital, is suing her employer, alleging that secret recordings of her taken without her knowledge were heavily edited and used to force her resignation, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported Oct. 8. Along with the allegations against the hospital, Dr. Groshong charged Kona Community Hospital CEO James Lee and risk manager and compliance officer Sean McCormick with allegedly interfering with a contractual right, as well as Mr. Lee, Mr. McCormick and Kona Ambulatory Surgery Center with alleged international interference with a prospective business advantage, according to the report. Mr. Lee is accused of taking confidential materials from the hospital to the ASC, where he was a member, to try to defame Dr. Groshong, who also was the assistant medical director at the ASC. Dr. Groshong also brings claims of defamation, inva- sion of privacy and willful and wanton misconduct against Mr. Lee, Mr. McCormick and KCH medical in- strument washer Joseph Levingston. She brings claims of negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress against all defendants. Dr. Groshong resigned but later rescinded her resigna- tion. n Nebraska surgery centers consolidating to one location By Alan Condon T wo surgery centers under the same ownership in Lincoln, Neb., are consolidating to one site on the Lincoln Surgical Hospital campus, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. Nebraska Surgery Center, on CHI Health St. Elizabeth's campus, will relocate to a building adjacent to Lincoln Surgi- cal Hospital that previously housed medical offices and has been renovated to accommodate new operating rooms. Licensing and occupancy approvals are pending, but Lincoln Surgical Hospital CEO Robb Linafelter told the publication that the first surgeries will be performed at the ASC in November. Key reasons for the consolidation were the need to upgrade the Nebraska Surgery Center facility, as well as the efficien- cies that combining operations in one facility would create, such as the ability to share staff, which decreases costs. It made more sense for Lincoln Surgical Hospital to invest in its campus, which will become the largest surgical site in the state, with 17 operating rooms equipped to perform 20,000 surgeries a year, according to Mr. Linafelter. The new facility has seven operating rooms, compared to four operating rooms and one procedure room at the cur- rent center. Lincoln Surgical Hospital has not decided what it will do with the current Nebraska Surgery Center building, which it owns, according to the report. n