People are investing more in compliance, because more people have been hit. Getting it right is imperative because cleaning it up on the back end is a costly process. In restructuring, the company also exited the home health business. In May 2000, Columbia even changed its name. For those mindful of the HCA settlement and general enforcement climate for Medicare billing issues, several realities emerge, according to attorneys.
Legal uncertainties remain.
Clients are generally more wary. And federal enforcement, not judicial lawmaking, has come to define acceptable conduct. Creativity will always flourish. The caution is driven as much by the Kansas City case as the HCA case. It's harder to get an aggressive opinion from an attorney in a world where health care attorneys are getting indicted.