Surveying the 2008 Legal Landscape

1. Reimbursement changes.; 2. "Under arrangements" contracts likely to become illegal.; 3. Increased hurdles to Medicare enrollment.; 4. Imaging in ASCs.; 5. Anti-kickback law issues.; Top legal worries; ASC-covered; Anti-kickback; Buying; CMS; Centers; Congress; HOPD; IDTFs; Imaging; Increased; Medicaid Services; Medicare; Medicare ASC; Multi-specialty; One-Third; Reimbursement; Services; Stark; Surgery; Year; accreditation; accrediting; action; added; additional; advice; affect; agency; agreement; agrees; ambulatory; amending; amount; anti-kickback; area; arrangements; assign; attempting; back; begins; benefit; bet; bill; billable; billing; blended; board; brings; buy; buy-backs; buying; careful; center; centers; challenges; change; clinical; clinically; close; codes; commercial; concerns; conditions; consistently; continue; contracts; contractual; cost-efficient; covered; day; decide; decision; deemed; delays; department; designated; develop; diagnostic; direct; directed; directly; discourage; document; duly; eliminate; eliminating; encourage; enroll; enrollment; enrollments; ensuring; entered; entire; equal; examine; exchange; existing; expand; expect; expenses; extension; face; fail; failure; fair; fee; filled; finalize; financial; focus; follow; forced; free; freeing; full-time; generally; give; good; governing; grant; greater; greatly; guidance; harbor's; health; higher; hospital; hospitals; hours; hurdles; imaging; immediately; independent; integral; intend; interests; issues; joint; law; learned; legal; legislative; lesson; limit; lines; list; located; made; main; major; make; market; maximize; means; meet; meeting; methodology; minimize; mix; mixes; multi-specialty; needed; nimble; numbers; open; opening; operating; opportunity; order; outpatient; overnight; oversight; owned; ownership; owns; page; paid; partnership; pass; past; patient; pay; paying; payment; payor; percent; percentage; perform; performance; performed; phased; physician; physician-owned; physician-owners; physicians; policy; practice; prepare; prior; privileges; problems; procedure; procedures; proceed; profitability; profitable; prohibited; proposed; provide; provided; put; questionable; rate; rates; reactive; ready; receive; referrals; reflects; regularly; regulatory; reimbursement; relationship; remain; remove; representation; repurchased; required; requirement; response; responsible; result; revenue; review; revoking; risks; rule; rules; safe; satisfy; sell; selling; separately; served; service; sets; shares; shift; significant; similarly; space; specialties; specialty; standard; starting; state; stay; structure; subcontracts; subject; successful; surgeon; surgery; surgical; survey; surveyors; system; targeted; tendency; term; test; testing; things; third-party; thumb; tied; top; treat; treated; types; ultimately; unhappy; units; variety; ventures; waiting; wholesale; wishes; worry; year; years