Virginia Law

A. If a good faith negotiation does not result in resolution of the dispute, the health carrier or provider may initiate arbitration by providing the notice of intent to arbitrate form to the commission and the non-initiating party within 10 calendar days following completion of the good faith negotiation period. The notice shall state the initiating party's final payment offer. Failure to timely submit the notice of intent to arbitrate form shall negate the party's opportunity to seek arbitration for the claim that was the subject of the untimely notice.

B. Agreement between the parties may be reached at any time in the process. The arbitration will then be terminated. The claim shall then be paid within 10 calendar days and the matter closed upon agreement .

C. The commission shall maintain a list of qualified arbitrators and each arbitrator's fixed fee on its website.

1. Within five calendar days of the notice of intent to arbitrate, the initiating party shall notify the commission of either agreement on an arbitrator from the list or that the parties cannot agree on an arbitrator.

2. If the parties cannot agree on an arbitrator, within five calendar days the commission shall provide the parties with the names of five arbitrators from the list. Within five calendar days, each party is responsible for reviewing the list of five arbitrators and notifying the commission if there is an apparent conflict of interest with any of the arbitrators on the list. Each party may veto up to two of the named arbitrators. If one name remains, that arbitrator shall be chosen. If more than one name remains, the commission shall choose the arbitrator from the remaining names.

3. Once the arbitrator is chosen, the commission shall notify the parties and the arbitrator within five calendar days.

4. The arbitrator's fee is payable within 10 calendar days of the assignment of the arbitrator with the health carrier and the provider to divide the fee equally.

D. Both parties shall agree to and execute a nondisclosure agreement within 10 business days following receipt of the notice of intent to arbitrate.

E. Within 30 calendar days following receipt of the notice of intent to arbitrate, each party shall provide written submissions in support of its position as well as the final payment offers directly to the arbitrator. At this time, the non-initiating party also shall provide its final offer to the initiating party. Each party shall include in its written submission the evidence and methodology for asserting that the amount proposed to be paid is or is not commercially reasonable. Any party that fails to make a written submission required by this subsection without good cause shown will be in default. The arbitrator shall require the defaulting party to pay or accept the final payment offer of the non-defaulting party and may require the defaulting party to pay the entirety of the arbitrator's fee.

F. The arbitrator shall consider the following factors in reviewing the submissions of the parties and making a decision requiring payment of the final offer amount of either the initiating or non-initiating party:

1. The evidence and methodology submitted by the parties to assert that their final offer amount is reasonable;

2. Patient characteristics and the circumstances and complexity of the case, including time and place of service and type of facility, that are not already reflected in the provider's billing code for the service;

3. The arbitrator may also consider other information that a party believes is relevant as part of their original written submission, including data sets developed pursuant to § 38.2-3445.03 of the Code of Virginia. The arbitrator shall not require extrinsic evidence of authenticity for admitting such data sets.

G. Within 15 calendar days after receipt of the parties' written submissions, the arbitrator shall issue a written decision requiring payment of the final offer amount of either of the parties. The arbitrator shall notify the parties and the commission of this decision. The decision shall include an explanation by the arbitrator of the basis for the decision and factors relied upon in making the decision and copies of all written submissions by each party. The decision shall also include information required to be reported to the commission, including the name of the health carrier, the name of the provider, the provider's employer or business entity in which the provider has an ownership interest, the name of the facility where services were provided, and the type of health care service at issue. The claim shall be paid within 10 calendar days after the arbitration decision.

H. Within 30 calendar days of receipt of the arbitrator's decision, either party may appeal to the commission in accordance with the provisions of 5VAC5-20-100 B based only on one of the following grounds: (i) the decision was substantially influenced by corruption, fraud, or other undue means; (ii) there was evident partiality, corruption, or misconduct prejudicing the rights of any party; (iii) the arbitrator exceeded his powers; or (iv) the arbitrator conducted the proceeding contrary to the provisions of § 38.2-3445.02 of the Code of Virginia and commission rules, in such a way as to materially prejudice the rights of the party.

I. A single provider is permitted to bundle claims for arbitration. Multiple claims may be addressed in a single arbitration proceeding if the claims at issue (i) involve identical health carrier or administrator and provider parties; (ii) involve claims with the same or related Current Procedural Technology (CPT) codes, Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes, or in the case of facility services, Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) codes, Revenue Codes, or other procedural codes relevant to a particular procedure, and (iii) occur within a period of two months of one another. Provider groups are not permitted to bundle claims for arbitration if the health care professional providing the service is not the same.

J. All written submissions and notifications required under this section shall be submitted electronically. Individual information related to any arbitration is confidential and not subject to disclosure.