Legal and Regulatory Compliance Consulting

 

OSHA

The Occupational and Safety Health Administration enforces safety and health regulations for most businesses and industries in the United States. Employers are required by OSHA to furnish each employee with a workplace that is free from recognized hazards, and to ensure that all employees comply with the many OSHA rules and regulations. Our consultants will help ensure that your practice complies with OSHA, including a worksite analysis and identification of hazards, development of a hazard prevention and control program, development of safety materials and manuals, and safety and health training for your employees. Our consultants have many years of experience with expert OSHA compliance for all specialties, including medical offices, dental offices and laboratories.

 

HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) includes regulations that govern privacy of patient information. Covered entities are required to be in compliance with these privacy regulations, which affects not only electronic medical records, but also paper records and also oral statements. Our consultants can help your practice comply with these regulations, protect your patients and minimize the risk that your practice will be held responsible for (very costly) breaches of HIPAA's privacy rule.

 

CLIA

Congress initially passed CLIA to ensure comprehensive quality standards for all laboratory testing. Because it defines a laboratory is defined as any facility which performs laboratory testing on specimens derived from humans, this includes testing performed within a medical office, including urine pregnancy tests, rapid strep tests and KOH skin slides. Even offices that perform only CLIA Waived tests still must meet certain CLIA regulations and must have a valid CLIA license. Our consultants will help ensure that your office laboratory is fully compliant with CLIA regulations.

 

Stark

Stark regulations principally govern physician to facilities in which s/he has a financial interest. Does your practice violate any Stark provisions? Our consultants can review your policies, contracts and relationships to help your practice minimize any potential regulatory violations.

 

Physician Employment

Are any of your physician employees being paid more than their fair share? Or working less than their fair share? Are you unsure of what compensation package to offer a new associate? We have extensive experience in helping practices craft physician employment agreements, tailored to your field, that include not only salary and benefit structure, but compensation that is tied to physician productivity. Instead of hiring a firm to recreate something we've already done, let our experts help you achieve your goals while saving you money and effort.

 

Insurance Contract Review

Insurance carrier contracts are complex documents, full of complicated terms and fine print. And physicians who sign them without fully understanding them run great risks. Our legal consultant can review your existing and new insurance contracts, helping clarify its terms and conditions. We can reduce your insurance contracts to clear bullet points and give you the data you need to effectively deal with insurance carriers.

 

Charting and Coding Assistance

If a visit is not properly charted it cannot be properly coded, if the visit is not properly coded it cannot be properly billed, and if the visit is not properly billed the practice does not get properly paid, and, worse, may be accused of fraudulent behavior. Even physicians who have been practicing for decades may not be properly documenting their visits, and this can trip them up during a chart audit ... and be terribly expensive. Our consultants will evaluate your charts to ensure that visits are being properly and thoroughly documented, to ensure that everything that transpired during the examination is adequately documented, to ensure that nothing is documented which did not transpire during the examination, and to ensure that the manner in which the chart is documented can result in the most legitimate and lucrative coding.

 

Practice Transitions

Whether you are starting a new practice, expanding an existing practice, merging with another practice, changing your physician partnership arrangement or dissolving your practice, there are many complex steps and relationships to consider. With expertise in management and law, and lots of experience navigating these waters, our consultants can help you make this transition successfully.