Turf wars in radiology: recent actions against self-referral by state governments, commercial payers, and medicare--hope is on the horizon.

Abstract

Self-referral in imaging creates a problem for our health care system in that it leads to higher utilization and costs. Although it is still widespread, there are indications that some states, some regional payers, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have begun to take some actions to limit this potentially abusive practice. At the state level, these actions include consideration of anti-self-referral laws, crackdowns on scan-leasing schemes, the institution of mandatory facility accreditation programs, and bans on the installation of advanced imaging equipment in physician offices. Some commercial payers have instituted strict privileging programs in imaging, closed their panels to any facility that is not a full-service imaging provider, and begun requiring accreditation of advanced imaging modalities. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services plans to institute an antimarkup rule and prohibit independent diagnostic testing facilities from leasing space or equipment to nonradiologist physicians, and it has indicated that tightening up the loopholes in the Stark laws may be in the offing. In this paper, the authors review all these recent developments and their implications.