On September 23, 2010 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the Medicare self-referral protocol (SRDP). The SRDP was established by sec. 6409 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which required the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Medicare self-referral program that affords providers of services and suppliers the opportunity to self-disclose actual or potential violations of the physician self-referral statute. The SRDP is open to all health care providers of services and suppliers, whether individuals or entities, and is not limited to a particular industry, medical specialty or type of service. The purpose of the SRDP is to facilitate the resolution of matters that the disclosing party reasonably assesses are actual or potential violations of the Stark Law. Thus, disclosing parties should make a submission to the SRDP only with the intention of resolving its overpayment liability exposure for conduct it identified. CMS will evaluate the facts and circumstances surrounding the disclosed conduct to determine an appropriate solution. It is important to note that CMS is not obligated to follow conclusions made by a disclosing party regarding the matter and has no obligation to resolve the matter in a particular way.
The disclosing party must submit the disclosure electronically and submit an original and 1 copy by mail to the Division of Technical Payment Policy. Information required to be in the disclosure includes: (1) description of actual or potential violation(s); (2) financial analysis; (3) a signed certification stating that best to the individual’s knowledge, the information provided contains truthful information and is based on a good faith effort to bring the matter to CMS’s attention.
For more information on the SRDP or for assistance with Stark compliance measures please call a Wachler & Associates attorney at 248-544-0888.