Company: USPH
Filing Date: 2025-03-03
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001140361-25-006750
Chunk: 12

Company: U S PHYSICAL THERAPY INC /NV
Filing Date: 2025-03-03
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 12
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-party payors. These contractual relationships will be subject to various state laws, including those of New York, that prohibit fee-splitting or
              the practice of medicine by lay entities or persons and are intended to prevent unlicensed persons from interfering with or influencing the licensed physician’s or physical therapist’s professional judgment. In addition, various state laws
              also generally prohibit the sharing of professional services income with nonprofessional or business interests. Activities other than those directly related to the delivery of healthcare may be considered an element of the practice of
              medicine in many states.

State corporate practice of medicine and fee-splitting laws also vary from state to state and are not always consistent among states. In addition, these requirements are subject to broad powers
              of interpretation and enforcement by state regulators. Some of these requirements may apply to us even if we do not have a physical presence in the state, based solely on our engagement of a provider licensed in the state or the provision of
              telehealth to a resident of the state. Failure to comply could lead to adverse judicial or administrative action against us and/or our providers, civil or criminal penalties, receipt of cease-and-desist orders from state regulators, loss of
              provider licenses, the need to make changes to the terms of engagement of our providers that interfere with our business and other materially adverse consequences. While we believe our arrangements with physician-owned and physical
              therapist-owned professional corporations are not in conflict with applicable state corporate practice of medicine restrictions, a state or a court could in the future determine that our arrangements implicate the restrictions on the
              corporate practice of medicine.

              11

HIPAA

In an effort to further combat healthcare fraud and protect patient confidentially, Congress included several anti-fraud measures in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of
              1996 (“HIPAA”). HIPAA created a source of funding for fraud control to coordinate federal, state and local healthcare law enforcement programs, conduct investigations, provide guidance to the healthcare industry concerning fraudulent
              healthcare practices, and establish a national data bank to receive and report final adverse actions. HIPAA also criminalized certain forms of health fraud against all public and private payors. Additionally, HIPAA mandates the adoption of
              standards regarding the exchange of healthcare information in an effort to ensure the privacy and electronic security of patient information and standards relating to the privacy of health information. Sanctions for failing to comply with
              HIPAA include criminal penalties and civil sanctions. In February of 2009, the American Recovery and Re