Florida Healthcare Law Firm

A medical director agreement looks routine. So does a lease with a referring physician, a marketing deal with a management company, or a percentage-based billing arrangement. Any one of them can create federal or state exposure if it is structured the wrong way. That is the core challenge of healthcare regulatory compliance in Florida. Almost everything a healthcare business does is regulated, and enforcement comes from several directions at once: the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), the Department of Justice, CMS, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), and state licensing boards. This guide explains the major compliance areas for physicians, clinics, hospitals, surgery centers, labs and other healthcare businesses, and when it makes sense to bring in a healthcare regulatory attorney. Federal and Florida Law: Why You Have to Check Both Many providers assume that if an arrangement satisfies the federal rules, it is safe. That assumption causes problems in Florid...

A medical director agreement signed years ago. A lease with a referring physician that was never updated. A marketing company paid per patient. None of these feels like a violation when it's signed, but each can create liability under federal and Florida law, sometimes years later and sometimes without anyone intending to break a rule. Florida providers face overlapping fraud-and-abuse laws, and a single arrangement can violate several at once. This guide covers the laws that matter, the arrangements that most often cause trouble, and how to build a compliance program that holds up under audit. Have an arrangement you're unsure about? Contact our healthcare attorneys for a complimentary consultation, or call (561) 455-7700 . Quick Summary Stark Law is a strict-liability civil statute. Intent doesn't matter, only whether the arrangement fits an exception. The Anti-Kickback Statute is a criminal, intent-based law covering anyone who pays or receives remuneration for f...

Ancillary services — imaging, laboratory work, physical therapy, durable medical equipment, infusion, pathology — are often the most profitable lines in a medical practice or hospital system. They're also where compliance risk concentrates most heavily. The Stark Law (Physician Self-Referral Law) and the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) were written with exactly these arrangements in mind, and enforcement agencies have shown no hesitation about pursuing organizations that get the structure wrong — even when everyone involved believed they were acting in good faith. For hospital administrators and physician groups building or expanding ancillary service lines, understanding where these two statutes diverge — and where they overlap — is the difference between a compliant revenue stream and a False Claims Act exposure sitting quietly on the books until an audit, a departing employee, or a whistleblower brings it to light. Two Statutes, Two Different Tests Stark Law is a strict l...