Overview
Approaches and attitudes regarding end-of-life care have evolved over the past several decades, and so too have the legal and business environments in which hospice and palliative care providers operate. Hooper, Lundy & Bookman works closely with a wide range of hospice providers to help them reach their strategic business objectives, maximize reimbursements and payments, and steer clear of regulatory missteps that could lead to disruptive governmental scrutiny.
HLB’s involvement in the hospice and palliative care space spans decades. We have seen and actively participated in the field’s transformation and increasing prominence in the continuum of care. Our clients include institutional hospice, home hospice, palliative care program providers, and palliative care medical practices.
The attorneys in our nationally recognized reimbursement, government investigations, and audit and appeals practices combine their expertise to protect our hospice clients’ interests as they face an increasing number of Medicare and Medicaid audits and investigations, including those focused on the medical necessity and duration of service provided to patients and compliance with “face-to-face” requirements. These include investigations, audits, and appeals involving Medicare, Medicaid, RAC, UPIC, OIG, and equivalent state authorities. HLB’s pioneering work and industry-leading expertise on fraud and abuse, Stark Law, and anti-kickback matters can prove invaluable if our hospice clients stand accused of malfeasance.
Along with our regulatory and reimbursement efforts, HLB’s capabilities extend to all the business and operational issues faced by hospice and palliative care providers. We facilitate a wide range of transactions, relationships, and affiliations with skilled nursing facilities, long-term care providers and others, assist with licensure and accreditation matters, and counsel on corporate governance and medical staff issues, among other services.
Our representation for hospices and palliative care providers includes:
- Medicare and Medicaid certification and recertification
- Medicare and Medicaid documentation, coding, and payment compliance
- Medicare Conditions of Participation and Conditions for Coverage
- Investigations, audits, and appeals involving Medicare, Medicaid, RAC, UPIC, OIG, and equivalent state authorities
- HIPAA compliance and patient privacy matters
- Assistance with accreditation surveys, corrective action plans, and termination appeals
- Change of ownership (CHOW) or location issues
- Contractual and transactional matters
- Vendor and service agreements
- Affiliations, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions
- Operations and corporate governance
- Internal investigations
- Compliance counseling and program development
- Licensure issues
- Fraud and abuse, Stark Law, and anti-kickback law counseling and defense
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