As described above, both the federal Department of Justice and the OIG have long voiced concerns over percentage billing arrangements. While there are no specific laws or rulings that assert that percentage compensation arrangements are per-se illegal, the government has stated on numerous occasions that percentage compensation arrangements contain financial incentives that increase the risk of abusive billing practices. Additionally, the OIG's compliance program Guidance for billing companies highly discourages billing company compensation arrangements based upon percentages. On these bases, providers can expect that the OIG will carefully scrutinize any billing company arrangements with percentage based compensation. As a result, while providers may, and often do, utilize these arrangements, they should also consider billing arrangements based upon fixed fees.
Providers can obtain many benefits by contracting with the right billing companies for services.
However, in the current regulatory environment, providers must act to protect themselves from their billing companies' errors. By carefully structuring their billing company arrangements both legally and pragmatically, providers can obtain the assurance of the maximum protection available. Inc. All rights reserved.