CMS has finalized changes to the Physician Self-Referral Law. The law prohibited physicians from making referrals to an entity, for certain health care services, if the physician had a financial relationship with the entity. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced the changes to outdated federal regulations it says have burdened health care providers with added administrative costs and impeded the health care system’s move toward value-based reimbursement. The Physician Self-Referral Law, also known as the “Stark Law,” generally prohibits a physician from sending a patient for many types of services to a provider that the physician owns, is employed by, or otherwise receives payment from—regardless of what that payment is for. The old federal regulations that interpret and implement this law were designed for a health care system… . . . read more.
