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Physician Contract Glossary · Regulatory & Compliance

Anti-Kickback Statute

The Anti-Kickback Statute makes it a crime to knowingly pay or receive anything of value to induce referrals for services covered by federal health programs.

The federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits knowingly offering, paying, soliciting, or receiving anything of value to induce referrals for items or services paid by Medicare or Medicaid. Unlike Stark, it requires intent, and it is a criminal statute with serious penalties. It governs how practices structure compensation, bonuses tied to referrals, and ownership of entities physicians refer to.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Be wary of any compensation that rewards you for referrals or for steering patients to a particular facility. Arrangements like that can implicate the Anti-Kickback Statute, and the penalties are criminal, so legal review is worth it.

Related terms

Stop being recruited. Start choosing.

You are about to sign something the senior people in your program signed without reading.

They had no guide either. You do. Start with the option that costs you nothing: see every practice that is actually out there before anyone hands you a contract.

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