Florida Healthcare Law Firm

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...