OIG Warns About Electronic Referral Management Platforms

Benjamin Wallfisch and Jeffrey Fitzgerald examine a recent HHS Office of Inspector General advisory opinion addressing Anti-Kickback Statute concerns involving subscription-based electronic referral management platforms. They explain OIG’s concern that paying providers may gain a competitive advantage in securing referrals, while noting that the opinion leaves ambiguity about how evolving safe harbors and prior favorable guidance may apply to similar arrangements. Wallfisch and Fitzgerald advise health care providers and technology companies to evaluate referral platforms based on their specific facts and circumstances, including potential compliance risks and the efficiencies these technologies can provide.