Marketing Home Health Without Violating CMS or OIG Rules

Marketing in home health isn’t like marketing in other industries. There are real stakes, both ethically and legally. For agencies that bill Medicare, your marketing strategy must comply with strict regulations set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG).

That doesn’t mean you can’t grow. It just means you have to grow strategically, responsibly, and with a deep understanding of the rules.

What Are the Rules?

The biggest compliance concerns in home health marketing revolve around:

• The Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS)

• The Stark Law

• CMS Conditions of Participation

The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits offering anything of value to induce referrals for services covered by a federal program. The Stark Law prohibits physician self-referrals. And CMS sets clear expectations around documentation, patient choice, and how care is presented.

In other words: marketing tactics that work in retail or other healthcare spaces (like gift cards, referral bonuses, or free services) could land you in serious trouble.

"Free" items, referral incentives, and even certain types of advertising may be considered suspect under OIG guidelines if they could be seen as inducing referrals.

What You Can Do: Marketing That Stays Compliant

1. Educate, Don’t Entice

Your marketing should focus on education rather than incentives. Provide valuable, factual information about your services, eligibility, and what families can expect from home health care.

Examples:

• Host webinars on Medicare eligibility and home health services
• Create print materials for discharge planners that focus on outcomes
• Build content that helps families navigate post-acute recovery

2. Promote Patient Choice Transparently

CMS requires that patients be given free and fair choice of providers. Your marketing must never imply that a referral must go to your agency. It should reinforce informed, independent choice.

Examples:

• Clarify your materials with language like: "We are one of several local Medicare-certified options."
• Avoid exclusivity or pressure-driven language in referral settings

3. Be Thoughtful with Referral Sources

Referral relationships are vital — but they must be built on trust and education, not transactions.

You can:

• Offer non-monetary educational resources to referral partners
• Provide in-services, lunch-and-learns, or clinical outcome reports (not gifts)
• Share anonymized patient success data, if properly documented

According to OIG guidance, providing free items or benefits to referral sources can be a red flag unless they fall under an approved safe harbor [OIG Special Fraud Alert, 2013].

4. Use Digital Marketing Thoughtfully

Running Google Ads, posting on social media, or optimizing your website is allowed — as long as you avoid deceptive claims, coercive language, or anything that misrepresents your scope of care.

Compliant strategies include:

• Local SEO for Medicare services
• Storytelling that highlights outcomes (without implying guaranteed results)
• Ads focused on education, not urgency or exclusivity

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• Offering referral bonuses to physicians or discharge planners
• Providing free services (transportation, meals, DME) to induce referrals
• Implying that a patient must choose your agency
• Using overly aggressive or emotional marketing tactics to secure business

RaisedCare’s Take

We work with home health agencies to grow in ways that are strategic, ethical, and fully aligned with CMS and OIG guidance. That means building marketing systems that educate, nurture, and convert — without putting your license at risk.

Your growth shouldn't feel risky. It should feel responsible.

Sources

• Office of Inspector General (OIG). "Special Fraud Alert: Offering Gifts and Other Inducements to Beneficiaries." 2013.
• CMS Conditions of Participation for Home Health Agencies
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Anti-Kickback Statute FAQs