Physician self-referral on the fast track

One of the most hotly debated areas of health care fraud and abuse has been the prohibition on physician self-referral. Now, this prohibition is limited to physicians referring patients to clinical laboratories in which they have an ownership interest and for which the services are reimbursed under the Medicare program. However, this law may be expanded to include other health care services to which physicians cannot refer, as well as to other federal programs and private payers. While Congress works toward this end, many state governments have already taken the lead in expanding the prohibition beyond clinical laboratories and the Medicare program. "Health Law" is a regular feature of Physician Executive contributed by Epstein, Becker, and Green. Mark Lutes of the firm's Washington, D.C., offices serves as editor of the column.