Q As a physician, may I invest in more than one ASC at the same time? And if yes, how many?

A The ASC Investments Safe Harbor from the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute is not really intended to limit the number of ASCs in which physicians can own interests. Rather, the safe harbor focuses on preventing physicians from owning surgical centers that they refer to but don't actually use as an extension of their office space and practices. The Office of Inspector General believes that in such cases the distributions received by such "passive investors" may be nothing more than "disguised kickbacks." As a result, under the safe harbor, a non-referring physician can own interests in any number of ASCs, as long as he or she does not refer to them.