Advisory Opinion Approves New Physician On-Call Compensation Arrangement

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued Advisory Opinion 09-05, approving a creative call coverage arrangement for a hospital to pay physicians on its medical staff for services provided to indigent and uninsured patients.  A nonprofit hospital requested the opinion because of its pressing need to pay physicians for certain medical services.  The hospital indicated that many of the physicians on its medical staff had reduced call coverage to the minimum required under the medical staff bylaws to avoid the burden associated with providing the ongoing medical care to indigent and uninsured patients that begins when treating a hospital emergency room patient.  The OIG noted that, while hospitals can receive Medicare disproportionate share (DSH) payments from the federal and state governments for hospital services rendered to indigent and uninsured patients, there is no similar mechanism to compensate physicians for professional services rendered to this