Turf wars in radiology: possible remedies for self-referral that could be taken by federal or state governments and payers.

Abstract

The time seems to be ripe for reforms that will address the rapid growth of self-referral in diagnostic imaging by nonradiologist physicians. The authors present a possible course of action containing six elements that federal or state governments and/or payers could take that would assist them in their efforts to control this ubiquitous problem: (1) a legislative ban on self-referral for certain types of imaging, (2) mandatory accreditation and/or site inspections of all imaging facilities, (3) the limitation of imaging privileges among nonradiologists, (4) the required precertification of all self-referred imaging examinations, (5) the auditing of records of physicians who self-refer, and (6) certificate-of-need laws.