your office. If you do that it's a $10,000 fine for the OIG, 2009 special alert bulletin. Outlines it very clearly.
Let's talk about the threshold on that. They say you can't give away anything more than $15 or $75 a year. What happens when you're not charging for therapy, or charging for X-rays, or charging for exams, or you're down coding your exams to try to save the patient some money. You're violating coding regulations. You're creating an inducement. These are things that can absolutely devastate a practice if they get a complaint, audit, fine or penalty. Stu, one of the last things I'll share with the thread of this. We work with or have talked with so many doctors in the fields. I know a lot of people that serve on our Board of Examiners across the nation. Guess what one of the top complaints the Boards of Examiners is. It's not over malpractice. Not over somebody getting hurt, it's over dollars and cents. Unfortunately our doctors are raising their hand yelling, "Pick me pick me with some of their business practices." Our focus is on making sure they have a compliant and profitable financial policy and that it's disclosed to that patient by a good financial report of findings. They just minimized the risk. That's really what it's aLL about, minimize the risk and practice with some peace of mind. That's exactly what we encourage Ray, is being proactive to minimize your risk. When it comes down to fees, a lot of times I think it's because of exactly what you're talking about and not being clear, not having a consistent fee schedule. That the doctors wind up with challenges with and from patients that then leads to the patient or the patient's spouse saying, "I want my money back." That's when unfortunately they wind up calling us to help coach them through that communication to help them neutralize a situation that could have just been dealt with a whole lot more properly in the first place. That's I think what people take note of from what you're sharing today. I'd love to give you a prime example of that. We had a doctor here in our state that unbelievably talented doctor. His knowledge base is top notch. He offered pre-paid plans. I don't have an issue with that. Whatever works for you and your practice, that's great. You brought up pre-paid plans in the beginning of this. We did see those back in the 80s and prior to that when insurance didn't cover much chiropractic care. This particular challenge that this doctor had, he did have a patient that did a pre-paid plan, about 75% through the program she decided to drop out of care. Ask for a refund. They weren't real timely in replying. Long story variable, he ticked off the wrong lady when he did give the refund. I don't know if he gave the full amount back or gave her a prorated portion. She filed a complaint with the Board of Examiners. I personally set in the Board of Examiners meeting for 13 hours in one day. The state Attorney General was there. Representatives from the state Medical association. Our board attorney is there. From what I heard last it's still not over. That's one of those situations that even though you have all the right forms, all the right documents. You
Dr. Hoffman:
Dr. Foxworth:
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