Doctor Referral, Kickback Rules Aim to Boost Coordinated Care (1)

Doctors will have an easier time entering into financial arrangements and coordinating care among shared patients under long-awaited changes to two major laws that fight fraud and corruption in the health-care industry.

Final rules issued Friday provide broad exceptions—or safe harbors—to the Stark law, which prohibits physician self-referrals, and the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which bars efforts to reward business referrals in federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

Updating the laws has been a cornerstone of the Trump administration’s push to overhaul U.S. health-care delivery by reducing regulatory burden.

Both laws aim to keep caregivers’ personal financial considerations ...