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Hospital and Meharry make progress on professional services agreement; Meharry to self‑report and return roughly $5,000 over alleged Stark issue
Summary
Hospital staff reported progress negotiating a professional services agreement (PSA) with Meharry Medical College — including a July 1 term date and joint committees — and Meharry told the board it will self‑report to CMS and return about $5,000 after its investigation into an alleged Stark violation involving a provider.
Hospital staff told the board that negotiations on a professional services agreement (PSA) with Meharry Medical College have advanced, and Meharry provided a public clarification about an allegation involving one of its providers.
Christy Lewis, chief compliance officer for Nashville General Hospital, told the board the PSA team had made "the most significant progress" in recent meetings. She said the parties agreed to change the PSA term date to July 1, increased meeting cadence to every two weeks, and established joint committees to address credentialing, payments, joint hires and fair‑market‑value documentation.
Lewis described work on clearer credentialing requirements tied to graduate medical education and a finance committee comprised of staff from both institutions to document payment processes, including payment for residents and fair‑market‑value payments. "We look forward to meeting the new term date that we have for July 1," she said.
Earlier in the meeting, during public comment, Lori Donnell (senior vice president for health affairs at Meharry Medical College) said Meharry had completed its internal investigation concerning an allegation that Dr. Billups provided services in Nashville General Hospital space in a way that raised a Stark law concern. Donnell said Meharry will "self report to CMS returning funds to both the Medicare, Medicaid services as well as... other carriers." She characterized the total return as roughly $5,000 and said the matter did not require a major self‑reporting event beyond a written report in Meharry’s practice management system.
Board members acknowledged the update from both Meharry and hospital compliance staff and offered no objection to continuing PSA negotiations under the revised timeline. No board vote was required on the status update.
Ending: The PSA negotiation team plans biweekly meetings and aims to finalize agreement terms to take effect July 1; Meharry’s self‑reporting on the provider matter was announced to the board.
