So you are considering rolling out your Epic Community Connect program and want to provide a competitive pricing model for your providers. Understanding the Stark Law Exemption rules of donation is key to avoiding an audit. Community Connect was started prior to allowing a designated health system to assist with the cost by donating up to 85%. The main reason for Community Connect was to provide better patient care, and one shared health record. There are seven key considerations to take into account for Stark Law exemptions. Do you know what they are?
Defining your program and strategy first will direct the level of subsidy you will provide. Calculating the total costs to deliver Community Connect is phase one. Be sure to include all software costs, hardware that may need to be purchased, build and design labor costs, implementation costs along with ongoing support. Remember to treat all clients the same, no special deals. Finally, you need to remember that swapping one EHR for another is only acceptable if it improves the technology such as inner-operability or adding additional functionality.
If you are interested in learning more about the Stark Law, please read our blog post entitled Understanding What is Required Under the Stark Law or download our white paper Community Connect: Expanding Epic into the Community.