Mr. Sansone with all due respect, your information is wrong, and
irresponsible to report to the server.
1- The rental space the stock and bill companies pay for the rental space
cannot be one dollar more then the physician pays for the rest of his office
space per Sq. Ft.(that is not cubic feet, it is floor space only, usually
about 6sq ft.) The physician would be in violation of stark & anti kickback
if the stock & bill co. pays more then that it is clearly ” A incentive for
referral” which is against CMS guidelines
2- Usually the stock & bill companies pay “Admin. Fee for paper work” usually
about $ 1,000.00 per month unless this fee is usually kept by the DR’s
office, this would also be considered “A incentive for referral”
3- L- Codes set up by CMS and other federal agencies include “Product and
services” this means Product, eval., fitting, and follow up care for 90 days
and adjustments along with extensive documentation to be in compliance with
the guidelines. When this is fitted in the DR’s office there are 2 eval fees
being paid. Just like Physical therapist fitting AFO’s they charge PT time &
L-code. Did you ever wonder why PT’s are not fitting and billing as many
AFO’s any more… I’ll tell you, some of them got pinched by OIG.
If we as Prosthetist & Orthotist continue to support these companies that
stock & bill we deserve the consequences we will pay.. It is supporting your
competition!
It is my opinion we all need to get involved because it is already the tail
wagging the dog..
Jan Saunders
