Advertising, Solicitation, and Fee-Splitting Prohibitions
Domain 6 covers what you may say to attract patients, how you may pay for referrals, and where marketing ends and patient brokering begins.
Advertising
Advertisements must be truthful and not misleading. Use only credentials you hold - never "M.D." or an implication of medical licensure - and make sure any specialty or board-certification claim is accurate and supportable. Promises of a cure, guarantees of result, and testimonials implying typical outcomes are prohibited. Identify the licensee in the advertisement, and keep the substantiation for any comparative claim.
Solicitation
Runners, cappers, and in-person solicitation of patients for financial gain are prohibited, as is contacting accident victims at the scene or in the immediate aftermath. Telemarketing and online marketing must comply with general law and must not coerce or harass. Offering a free screening is permissible only if the terms are disclosed and it is not a bait-and-switch into unnecessary care.
Fee splitting and kickbacks (s. 456.054; s. 817.505)
It is unlawful to offer, pay, solicit, or receive any commission, bonus, kickback, rebate, or split fee in exchange for the referral of a patient. Patient brokering is also a crime under s. 817.505. Bona fide employment and fair-market-value space rental are not fee splitting, provided compensation is not tied to the volume or value of referrals.
Worked example
A personal injury attorney offers to send every client to a clinic in exchange for 10 percent of collected fees. Reasoning: the payment is conditioned on referrals, so it is both a prohibited fee split under s. 456.054 and patient brokering under s. 817.505. It also corrupts the records the clinic will later rely on to defend its billing, and it is reportable misconduct. The lawful version is a fair-market-value lease or an advertised service paid at its actual value.
Traps
- Assuming a discounted cash price is unlawful; it is fine if it is not misleading and is billed truthfully.
- Assuming rent paid to a referring physician is automatically a kickback - check fair market value and the absence of referral terms.
- Overlooking that the referral side of the arrangement is equally exposed.