Patient brokering
Patient brokering is paying, or accepting payment, for referring a patient to a treatment provider, a practice that the federal Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act and several state laws make a crime.
Also called body brokering, referral kickbacks
- Last reviewed
- 3 sources, linked
- 4 related terms
What it means
The obvious case is cash for each admitted patient. Arrangements that draw the same scrutiny are less obvious: fees per call or lead that rise with admissions, paying a patient's rent or travel to enroll, or a marketing contract whose price moves with the number of people referred.
Federally, EKRA (18 U.S.C. 220) makes it a crime to pay or receive remuneration for referrals to a recovery home, clinical treatment facility or laboratory when the services are covered by a health care benefit program, public or private. Fines run up to $200,000 and prison up to 10 years for each occurrence.
States add their own laws. Florida's Patient Brokering Act, section 817.505 of the Florida Statutes, makes it a felony to offer or pay a commission, bonus, rebate, kickback or bribe to induce a patient referral, and other states have statutes that differ in scope.
Why it matters for your website
Your website should never be part of a referral-for-pay chain. That rules out paid lead aggregators posing as neutral directories, helpline sites that sell calls to the highest bidder, and offers of free travel or housing on your own pages. LegitScript treats paying for travel as generally disqualifying too.
When an agency proposes pricing per admission or per qualified patient, put the proposal in front of your healthcare attorney before you sign anything.
Sources
The facts on this page about a law, a regulator, a clinical standard or a platform come from these sources. Each link opens the original in a new tab.
- Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute18 U.S. Code § 220, Illegal remunerations for referrals to recovery homes, clinical treatment facilities, and laboratories (opens in a new tab)
- Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute18 U.S. Code § 24, Definitions relating to Federal health care offense (opens in a new tab)
- The Florida SenateFlorida Statutes § 817.505, Patient brokering prohibited; exceptions; penalties (opens in a new tab)
Last reviewed
This entry explains a rule so you can plan a website around it. It is not legal advice: for a decision about your own program, ask a healthcare attorney.
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