More goodwill for gainsharing
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
HHS Office of Inspector General has now awarded safe harbor to 12 hospitals to enact arrangements where physicians are financially rewarded for agreeing to implement a number of cost reduction activities. The latest advisory opinion exempting a gainsharing program from civil money penalty and anti-kickback enforcement, posted Oct. 14, addresses an unnamed hospital's cardiac catheterization laboratory. The proposed program is similar to others that OIG has approved in that it includes physician agreements to standardize products and limit use of certain products, while also including safeguards to prevent reductions in clinical quality. But it is the first multi-year program the office has approved. Previous arrangements were planned to extend for only one year (1"The Gray Sheet" Jan. 21, 2008, p. 15