Self-Referral Law Seen as Barrier to New Provider Arrangements

Doctors and hospitals are shying away from deals that pay physicians based on quality and care coordination out of fear those arrangements will violate the federal physician self-referral law, attorneys told Bloomberg BNA recently.

The Medicare program and private insurers have been moving toward physician reimbursement models based on quality of care, and in late April the federal government released a proposed rule that would begin implementing a new quality-based payment structure for Medicare doctors.

Attorneys told Bloomberg BNA that doctors and hospitals will be reluctant to enter into pay-for-quality arrangements because of fear that current federal anti-fraud laws may ...