Inducement Information and Courses from MediaLab, Inc.

Offering or taking a bribe, kickback, bonus, commission, or inducement is against the rules of the Board and against the law. Many companies give away small promotional items, such as pens or note pads, to promote their products. This is legal, but be cautious about accepting more valuable items. This could be seen as a bribe. All of the following are serious violations of Board, state, and federal rules:Participating in any commissions, bonuses, kickbacks, inducements, or split-fee arrangements from physicians, health care providers, suppliers, hospitals, nursing homes, other clinical laboratories, pharmacies, and other facilities.Exploiting or influencing a patient for financial gain, including promoting, selling, or withholding services, drugs, or referrals.

The laboratory should not offer or provide free testing to any individual in a position to make or control referral for laboratory services: The laboratory may write off charges only when laboratory errors in billing or testing occur. Sales and marketing personnel cannot offer free testing in any form unless approved by the compliance officer. Free testing for indigent patients must be approved by the Compliance Officer. Sales and marketing personnel cannot offer or give anything of value to a customer or potential customer beyond the usual promotional items. If a client solicits special consideration, it should be reported to the sales manager or compliance officer.

A courier is making a routine stop in a client's office and is approached by the office manager with whom he is very friendly because he has been going to this office for years. The office manager asks the courier if Dr. John Smith is a regular stop on his route and the courier answers yes. She then asks the courier if he would do her a little favor since he stops at Dr Smiths office regularly anyway and drop off an x-ray for her so she won't have to call a courier service. The courier knows that this is a big account for the laboratory and customer service is a high priority for the laboratory. This courier should:Correct Answer: Refuse to do it for the customer and explain to the customer that the laboratory has a policy that says he must only provide courier services related to laboratory.Discussion: Even though this is a single incident, by doing this favor the courier is giving the office manager license to ask these kinds of favors in the future. Since the provision of this free courier service is a form of inducement or kickback to the client, both the client and the laboratory would be involved if the such a practice were to go on regularly and be discovered by the government or by the laboratory. Hiding the incident and asking the office manager to conspire with him to do this will only make it worse for the employee and would lead to serious disciplinary action up to termination.

It is against the law to offer or ask for money or favors to get a physician to order tests from a laboratory. This is known as an "inducement" or a "kickback." Laboratories should only give supplies to a physician for the drawing, processing, storing or transporting of specimens to the laboratory. The laboratory cannot provide supplies physicians use for their own purposes. The laboratory must monitor the amount of supplies provided to ensure that it matches the number of tests sent to the laboratory. The lab cannot give free tests except in the event of laboratory error. The lab cannot give free education to clients unless it is about the laboratory's services or policies. The lab cannot give excessive or expensive gifts or entertainment to physicians The lab can give discounts but the price must be above cost and at "fair market value."

Do not leave test orders or test results in areas where they can be viewed by patients.Do not discuss test results or any patient information in areas where patients can overhear the conversation. Be careful not to discuss confidential information on the telephone where patients can overhear the conversation.Do not provide supplies to physician offices other than those usually provided by the laboratory. Document any supplies given to an office.Do not supply items that the office can use for testing (e.g. urine dipsticks). Do not allow offices to dispose of biohazard waste or sharps in the waste containers paid for by the laboratory.

A courier is making a routine stop in a client's office and is approached by the office manager with whom he is very friendly because he has been going to this office for years. The office manager asks the courier if Dr. John Smith is a regular stop on his route and the courier answers yes. She then asks the courier if he would do her a little favor since he stops at Dr Smiths office regularly anyway and drop off an x-ray for her so she won't have to call a courier service. The courier knows that this is a big account for the laboratory and customer service is a high priority for the laboratory. This courier should:Correct Answer: Refuse to do it for the customer and explain to the customer that the laboratory has a policy that says he must only provide courier services related to laboratory.Discussion: Even though this is a single incident, by doing this favor the courier is giving the office manager license to ask these kinds of favors in the future. Since the provision of this free courier service is a form of inducement or kickback to the client, both the client and the laboratory would be involved if the such a practice were to go on regularly and be discovered by the government or by the laboratory. Hiding the incident and asking the office manager to conspire with him to do this will only make it worse for the employee and would lead to serious discipline action up to termination. The courier's best course of action, for the protection of his friend the office manager and himself, the physician practice and the laboratory is to not do this and explain the reason to the office manager so she is aware of the consequences of asking this favor.