Many physician employment contracts violate new self-referral regulations, and practices may have to revise them. Even if CMS doesn't go after your practice over the issue, a whistleblower could file a qui tam suit, notes attorney Bob Ramsey. Also, a physician could claim her employment contract is void because it violates the law.
The new regs may give rise to tricky disputes, says attorney William Maruca with Fox Rothschild in Pittsburgh. For example, if a physician group has a new recruit who started work last January with a non-compete clause in place, the hospital may refuse to keep paying the income subsidies to the new doctor because those subsidies are now technically kickbacks.