Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Radiologists in Maryland are cheering after the state's restrictive law banning physician self-referral withstood a court challenge. The law is more stringent than even the federal Stark laws, and could serve as a model for other states looking to ban physicians from referring to sites in which they have a financial interest.
Physician self-referral has come under increased scrutiny of late, both from federal regulators and third-party insurance payors concerned about its impact on rising imaging utilization. Radiologists in particular hate the practice, as referring physicians typically send far fewer patients to outside imaging facilities after they've installed their own scanners.
The Maryland law is more restrictive than other state and federal laws because it clamps down on the in-office exemption that many nonradiologist physicians have used to install scanners in their own facilities. In the court ruling, a state court judge said that the law was a legitimate effort on the part of the state to limit physician self-referral.
Will the law survive further court challenges? Will other states also adopt similar legislation? Delve deeper by reading our article by staff writer Kate Madden Yee, which you can reach by clicking here. And visit our Imaging Center Digital Community, at centers.auntminnie.com, for additional stories on self-referral and other economic issues affecting imaging facilities.
In other news, you have just a little time left to participate in our Personality Survey, which we're conducting in collaboration with Dr. Bruce Reiner, director of research at the VA Maryland Health Care System in Baltimore.
Dr. Reiner is researching the influence that personality traits have on career decisions, and we're asking for your help in filling out a short survey that assesses your personal preferences, stress levels, and interest in using new technology.
What's in it for you? If you choose to submit an e-mail address with the completed survey, you will receive a report on how your responses compare to those of your peers. You can also fill out the survey anonymously if you wish.
You can get started on the survey by visiting personality.auntminnie.com. Thanks in advance for your participation!
