Safe Harbors - August 1, 2006

On August 1, 2006, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced final regulations that create two new exceptions to the federal physician self-referral law (the Stark law) and two new safe harbors under the federal health care anti-kickback statute involving e-prescribing and electronic health records.  The regulations are more expansive than those that had originally been proposed.

The exceptions and safe harbors establish conditions under which:

1. Entities furnishing designated health services (and certain other entities under the safe harbor) may donate to physicians (and certain other recipients under the safe harbor) interoperable health records software, information technology and training services.
2. Hospitals and certain other entities may provide physicians (and certain other recipients under the safe harbor) with hardware, software, or information technology and training services necessary and used solely for e-prescribing.

Related Resources:

• The final rule from OIG concerning safe harbors under the anti-kickback statute
• The final CMS rule concerning new exceptions under the Stark Law
• The press release from HHS
• The CMS fact sheet