OFFICE OF
INSPECTOR
GENERAL
Special Fraud Alert |
RENTAL
OF SPACE IN PHYSICIAN OFFICES BY PERSONS
OR ENTITIES TO WHICH PHYSICIANS REFER
February 2000
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) was established at the Department of Health and
Human Services by Congress in 1976 to identify and eliminate fraud, abuse and waste in the
Department's programs and to promote efficiency and economy in departmental operations.
The OIG carries out this mission through a nationwide program of audits, investigations
and inspections.
To reduce fraud and abuse in the Federal health care programs, including Medicare and
Medicaid, the OIG actively investigates fraudulent schemes that are used to obtain money
from these programs and, when appropriate, issues Special Fraud Alerts that identify
practices in the health care industry that are particularly vulnerable to abuse.
This Special Fraud Alert focuses on the rental of space in physicians' offices by persons
or entities that provide health care items or services (suppliers)(1)
to patients that are referred either directly or indirectly by their physician-landlords.
In this Special Fraud Alert, we describe some of the potentially illegal practices the OIG
has identified in such rental relationships.
Questionable Rental Arrangements For Space in Physician Offices
A number of suppliers that provide health care items or services rent space in the offices
of physicians or other practitioners. Typically, most of the items or services provided in
the rented space are for patients, referred or sent, either directly or indirectly, to the
supplier by the physician-landlord. In particular, we are aware of rental arrangements
between physician-landlords and:
The OIG is concerned that in such arrangements, the rental payments may be disguised
kickbacks to the physician-landlords to induce referrals. We have received numerous
credible reports that in many cases, suppliers, whose businesses depend on physicians'
referrals, offer and pay "rents" -- either voluntarily or in response to
physicians' requests -- that are either unnecessary or in excess of the fair market value
for the space to access the physicians' potential referrals.
The Anti-Kickback Law Prohibits Any Payments to Induce Referrals
Kickbacks can distort medical decision-making, cause overutilization, increase costs and
result in unfair competition by freezing out competitors who are unwilling to pay
kickbacks. Kickbacks can also adversely affect the quality of patient care by encouraging
physicians to order services or recommend supplies based on profit rather than the
patients' best medical interests.
Section 1128B(b) of the Social Security Act (the Act) prohibits knowingly and willfully
soliciting, receiving, offering or paying anything of value to induce referrals of items
or services payable by a Federal health care program. Both parties to an impermissible
kickback transaction are liable. Violation of the statute constitutes a felony punishable
by a maximum fine of $25,000, imprisonment up to five years, or both. The OIG may also
initiate administrative proceedings to exclude persons from Federal health care programs
or to impose civil money penalties for fraud, kickbacks and other prohibited activities
under sections 1128(b)(7) and 1128A(a)(7) of the Act.(2)
Suspect Rental Arrangements For Space in Physician Offices
The questionable features of suspect rental arrangements for space in physicians' offices
may be reflected in three areas:
Below, we examine these suspect areas, which separately or together may result in an
arrangement that violates the anti-kickback statute, in order to help identify
questionable rental arrangements between physicians and the suppliers to which they refer
patients. This list is not exhaustive, but rather gives examples of indicators of
potentially unlawful activity.
Appropriateness of Rental Agreements. The threshold inquiry when
examining rental payments is whether payment for rent is appropriate at all. Payments of
"rent" for space that traditionally has been provided for free or for a nominal
charge as an accommodation between the parties for the benefit of the physicians'
patients, such as consignment closets for DMEPOS, may be disguised kickbacks. In general,
payments for rent of consignment closets in physicians' offices are suspect.(3)
Rental Amounts. Rental amounts should be at fair market value, be fixed
in advance and not take into account, directly or indirectly, the volume or value of
referrals or other business generated between the parties. Fair market value rental
payments should not exceed the amount paid for comparable property. Moreover, where a
physician rents space, the rate paid by the supplier should not exceed the rate paid by
the physicians in the primary lease for their office space, except in rare circumstances.
Examples of suspect arrangements include:
Time and Space Considerations. Suppliers should only rent premises of a size and for a time that is reasonable and necessary for a commercially reasonable business purpose of the supplier. Rental of space that is in excess of suppliers' needs creates a presumption that the payments may be a pretext for giving money to physicians for their referrals. Examples of suspect arrangements include:
In addition, rental amount calculations should prorate rent based on the amount of
space and duration of time the premises are used. The basis for any proration should be
documented and updated as necessary. Depending on the circumstances, the supplier's rent
can consist of three components: (1) exclusive office space; (2) interior office common
space; and (3) building common space.
1. Apportionment of exclusive office space - The supplier's rent should be
calculated based on the ratio of the time the space is in use by the supplier to the total
amount of time the physician's office is in use. In addition, the rent should be
calculated based on the ratio of the amount of space that is used exclusively by the
supplier to the total amount of space in the physician's office. For example, where a
supplier rents an examination room for four hours one afternoon per week in a physician's
office that has four examination rooms of equal size and is open eight hours a day, five
days per week, the supplier's prorated annual rent would be calculated as follows:
Physician Office |
% of Physician |
% of Each Day |
No. of Days Rented |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
annual rent of primary
lease |
X | sq. ft. exclusively |
X | 4 hours |
X | 52 days (i.e., |
= | Supplier's annual |
2. Apportionment of interior office common space - When permitted by applicable
regulations, rental payments may also cover the interior office common space in
physicians' offices that are shared by the physicians and any subtenants, such as waiting
rooms. If suppliers use such common areas for their patients, it may be appropriate for
the suppliers to pay a prorated portion of the charge for such space. The charge for the
common space must be apportioned among all physicians and subtenants that use the
interior office common space based on the amount of non-common space they occupy and the
duration of such occupation. Payment for the use of office common space should not exceed
the supplier's pro rata share of the charge for such space based upon the ratio of the
space used exclusively by the supplier to the total amount of space (other than common
space) occupied by all persons using such common space.
3. Apportionment of building common space - Where the physician pays a separate
charge for areas of a building that are shared by all tenants, such as building lobbies,
it may be appropriate for the supplier to pay a prorated portion of such charge. As with
interior office common space, the cost of the building common space must be apportioned
among all physicians and subtenants based on the amount of non-common space they
occupy and the duration of such occupation. For instance, in the example in number
one above, the supplier's share of the additional levy for building common space could not
be split 50/50.
The Space Rental Safe Harbor Can Protect Legitimate Arrangements
We strongly recommend that parties to rental agreements between physicians and suppliers
to whom the physicians refer or for which physicians otherwise generate business make
every effort to comply with the space rental safe harbor to the anti-kickback statute.
(See 42 CFR 1001.952(b), as amended by 64 FR 63518 (November 19, 1999)). When an
arrangement meets all of the criteria of a safe harbor, the arrangement is immune from
prosecution under the anti-kickback statute. The following are the safe harbor criteria,
all of which must be met:
Arrangements for office equipment or personal services of physicians' office staff can
also be structured to comply with the equipment rental safe harbor and personal services
and management contracts safe harbor. (See 42 CFR 1001.952(c) and (d), as amended by 64 FR
63518 (November 19, 1999)). Specific equipment used should be identified and documented
and payment limited to the prorated portion of its use. Similarly, any services provided
should be documented and payment should be limited to the time actually spent performing
such services.
What To Do If You Have Information About Fraud and Abuse Against Medicare or Medicaid
Programs
If you have information about physicians, DMEPOS suppliers, CORFs or other suppliers
engaging in any of the activities described above, contact any of the regional
offices of the Office of Investigations of the Office of Inspector General,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, at the following locations:
Field Offices | States Served | Telephone |
---|---|---|
Boston | MA, VT, NH, ME, RI, CT | 617-565-2664 |
New York | NY, NJ, PR, VI | 212-264-1691 |
Philadelphia | PA, MD, DE, WV, VA, DC | 215-861-4586 |
Atlanta | GA, KY, NC, SC, FL, TN, AL, MS | 404-562-7603 |
Chicago | IL, MN, WI, MI, IN, OH, IA, | 312-353-2740 |
Dallas | TX, NM, OK, AR, LA, CO, UT, WY, MT, ND, SD, NE, KS, MO | 214-767-8406 |
Los Angeles | AZ, NV, So. CA | 714-246-8302 |
San Francisco | No. CA, AK, HI, OR, ID, WA | 415-437-7961 |
1. Persons or entities may be either suppliers or providers. For purposes of this Special Fraud Alert, we will refer to such persons as suppliers.
2. Some of the arrangements identified as suspect in this Special Fraud Alert may also implicate the Ethics in Patient Referrals Act, also known as the Stark law (section 1877 of the Act). The interpretation of the Stark law is under the jurisdiction of the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA).
3. This Special Fraud Alert does not address the appropriateness of consignment closet arrangements under HCFA's DMEPOS supplier standards. The interpretation of the DMEPOS supplier standards is a matter under HCFA's jurisdiction.