Business of Medicine » Legal Matters

Anatomy of a Noncompetition Clause: Now’s the time to review your employment contract

A physician who was recently offered a lucrative position with an otolaryngology practice in his community asked me to review his current employment agreement to determine if it contained any prohibitions against accepting the job. His previous employment contract contained a noncompetition clause that, justifiably, caused him and his prospective employer some concern. As it turned out, in his case, and in many others, the noncompetition clause was not as restrictive as it appeared at first glance. The provision was penetrable and my client joined the new practice with a clear conscience that he was not in violation of his previous contract.

Avoid the Hot Seat: How to prepare for a CMS audit

In February, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began rolling out its national Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program, aimed at ferreting out improper payments and preventing fraud, waste and abuse in the Medicare system. If you bill for Medicare fee-for-service, you are fair game for a RAC audit. A three-year demonstration of the RAC program, which ended in March 2008, heavily targeted bronchoscopy, injectable drugs and IV hydration therapy. But auditors are rapidly expanding the list, and the permanent program will include adenoidectomies, tonsillectomies, thyroidectomies and other otolaryngology-related procedures.

HIPAA Expansion: Ensure your practice meets the law’s new provisions

On Feb. 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (commonly referred to as ARRA or the Stimulus Bill) which includes the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. The HITECH Act includes significant changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) that affect otolaryngologists and other health care providers, as well as those who process or work with health care information. Below is a summary of how these new provisions, many of which go into effect this Feb. 17, will affect your practice.

Managed Correctly, Hearing Aid Dispensing Augments the Bottom Line

SAN DIEGO-Hearing aids can become a reliable source of ancillary income for otolaryngologists, according to four speakers in the miniseminar, Hearing Aids: The Dollars and Cents of Dispensing, presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS).