The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Nov. 16, 20151 published the calendar year 2016 physician fee schedule final rule, fundamentally reducing the burden on entities seeking to demonstrate compliance with numerous Stark law exceptions requiring contracts between physicians and hospitals to be ‘‘set out in writing’’ and ‘‘signed by the parties.’’

Acknowledging that a number of parties utilizing the Self Referral Disclosure Protocol (SRDP) to disclose potential overpayments have interpreted the exceptions to require a single written contract, the final rule ‘‘clarifies’’ CMS’ ‘‘existing policy’’ that the writing and signature requirements may be satisfied by a collection of contemporaneous documents evidencing the arrangement between the contracting entities.

Originally published in Bloomberg BNA's Health Law Reporter - December 3, 2015.