Author Question: A phlebotomist is placed in a physician's office, and the phlebotomist has a lot of extra time ... (Read 143 times)

elizabeth18 · **on:** Jun 25, 2018

A phlebotomist is placed in a physician's office, and the phlebotomist has a lot of extra time between draws. The phlebotomist likes to stay busy, so he helps the physician's office staff with checking in patients and filing medical records. Is this phlebotomist putting the laboratory in possible violation of the Antikickback Law?

Question 2

A physician's office draws samples from an average of 10 patients a day. The physician's office requests a box of 50 pairs of gloves per day from the laboratory. How would you handle this request?

Bigfoot1984 · **Reply #1 on:** Jun 25, 2018

Answer to Question 1

The phlebotomist would be putting the laboratory in violation of the Antikickback Law. The purpose of placing the phlebotomist in the office would be to collect samples for the laboratory. Any other duties done by the phlebotomist could be interpreted as trying to keep the laboratory's business in the physician's office. If the phlebotomist did do any work for the physician, the physician would have to pay the fair market value to the laboratory for the additional services rendered by the phlebotomist.

Answer to Question 2

Because the number of gloves the physician's office is requesting is more than the office will use to draw the blood samples, the gloves in the quantity requested cannot be supplied. If the gloves were supplied, then this would be an enticement to the physician for business, would violate the Antikickback Law, and could subject all parties to penalties.