Five Key Final Stark Act Changes

The following are five key Stark Act changes that are being finalized:

1. Physicians will be required to "stand in the shoes" of their physician organization only if they have an ownership or investment interest (not compensation) in the physician organization.
2. If an arrangement does not comply with an exception because of the failure to obtain a signature on written contract, the arrangement can still meet the exception if the signature is obtained within 90 days for an inadvertent failure and 30 days for a failure that is not inadvertent.
3. Percentage-based compensation can only be paid for personally performed services, and only from revenue generated from the physician's personally performed services.
4. Per-click compensation will not be permitted if the lessor was the source of the patient referral.
5. A DHS entity will include the person or entity that performs the DHS. Many "under arrangements" may be required to be unwound because of this change.