The Stark Law is a federal anti-fraud law that seeks to put patients over profits. It is in place to help ensure that medical decision-making and patient referrals are as free from financial incentive as possible.
Under the Stark Law, physicians can be held liable if they refer patients to anyone with whom they have a financial relationship. Ambulatory surgery centers are unfortunately vulnerable to violations of the Stark Law.
The Stark Law is governed by Section 1877 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395nn) and is sometimes referred to as the "physician self-referral law." When it was first passed in 1989, the Stark Law only prohibited physicians from referring patients to clinical laboratory services that they shared any kind of financial relationship with when the services are payable by Medicare.
Over the years, the scope of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute has expanded to include the following designated health services (DHS) payable by Medicare:
Physical therapy services
Occupational therapy services
Outpatient speech-language pathology services
Radiology, MRI, and imaging services
Radiation therapy
Medical devices, equipment, and supplies
Prosthetics and orthotics
Home health care and home health services
Outpatient prescription drugs
Hospital services, both inpatient and outpatient
While there are certain exceptions to the Stark Law, in general, if a physician or one of their immediate family members has a...
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