Can a home health agency give their Nurses/PT/OT financial bonuses for referrals?

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I can't find the law for this, so if someone can please help direct me to actual documentation that states it is or is notagainst the law, it would be much appreciated.

Can a home health agency give their Nurses/PT/OT financial bonuses for referring PATIENTS to come on service?

I believe the answer is 100% no. It's illegal and ethically wrong. But I need to see the actual written law before taking this further.

It's a legitimate question and I don't think it's deserving of derision. The Stark Law prohibits this very activity amongst physicians who have a vested financial interest in whatever they're referring to.

OP, as I already mentioned, I am NOT a lawyer or even a pretend one, but it doesn't appear that there is a law against this. Best thing to do would be call CMS and ask them.

Thanks, yes and I thought that anti-stark statue spoke more towards other entities in health care.

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It just seems all too fishy to me.

I have given out business cards to people I have met out in the public, however, my employer never gave me any incentives for doing so.

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I have given out business cards to people I have met out in the public, however, my employer never gave me any incentives for doing so.

Yeah I certainly can understand that. If you think the patient would benefit for their own gain. However, what if someone said for each business card you hand out you get a bonus. Doesn't seem ethical when there's an incentive.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Knowledge of the Stark Acts and related laws is actually a requirement for licensure in every state, so I'm more than a little disappointed that a number of nurses have referred to this is a legal issue and not a nursing issue, since by legal definition this is an issue that nurses should be well aware of.

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thank you

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

I just asked my husband, who is a home health/hospice CMS policy wonk.

He said it's a gray area. He said referral itself is okay, provided the patient is actually eligible for care. The person referring and getting a "bonus" should not be the one involved in the admission process because it could potentially influence the person's judgment as to whether the patient is appropriate for care.

He said that for him personally, it doesn't pass the smell test and wouldn't do it.

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Anti-kickback statue states that you can not refer patients for financial gain. If you don't think there is a law or policy for every single thing in nursing then I hope you have malpractice insurance.

There can be a policy, but there are not laws for every, single thing. There can be a policy that a company could get into trouble with say getting reimbursement from Medicare, but not a law. Not everything has a law. There is a difference.

I stand by my statement.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

Except that anti-kickback laws are LAWS.

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I agree with klone, I would anonymously ask an authoritative entity your question.

Anti-kickback is often discussed in terms of violations that involve physicians, but I'm pretty sure it involves nurses. Annual compliance training always touches on the subject and while it focuses on advising us to report concerning physician or hospital vendor situations, it also includes us directly; it is related to reasons (other than ethical) that nurses can't accept items of value (outside of wages and benefits, etc.) in the course of performing the role our employer has hired us to perform.

I suspect the OP situation really begs the appearance of illegal remunerations.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

I'm wondering if a call to the Dept. of Health and Human Services in your state would be productive. It might yield the information you're looking for without incurring lawyer costs.

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Specializes in Trauma RN.

What are you hoping to gain from this? Why call a private attorney instead of the dept of health or human services or the medicaid and medicare fraud line to ask about/and/or report your suspicions?

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Infection Control/Geriatrics.

Check with your State Board of Nursing.

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