Stark Law

Excerpt

Federal physician self-referral prohibition (42 USC 1395nn.), commonly referred to as the Stark law, is a set of regulations that pertain to physician self-referral under current United States (US) federal law. These statutes currently reside under the purview of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) fraud and abuse laws. The Stark law was initially enacted in 1992 but expanded in 1995. These regulations limit the financial and business relationships into which physicians may enter. In its incipience, the Stark law applied to physician referral for clinical laboratory services but has since expanded to encompass "designated health services" or DHS. In general terms, the DHS refers to the health facility or institution that will perform physical and occupational therapies, clinical laboratory testing, radiology services, medical equipment, inpatient hospital services, outpatient prescription services, or home-health services.