The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued two reports on trends in physician referrals to entities in which the provider or the provider's family members have a financial interest – both of which conclude that financial incentives are likely a major factor driving increases in referrals. In the first report, "Medicare: Action Needed to Address Higher Use of Anatomic Pathology Services by Providers Who Self-Refer," the GAO concentrates on three provider specialties -- dermatology, gastroenterology, and urology -- that in 2010 accounted for 90% of referrals for self-referred anatomic pathology services (the preparation and examination of tissue samples to diagnose disease). Among other things, the report found that referrals for anatomic pathology services by these specialists (specifically services represented by CPT code 88305) substantially increased the year after they began to self-refer, compared both to before they started self-referring and to those specialists who continued to self-refer or never self-referred services. Self-referring providers of these specialties also referred more services on average than non-self-referring providers, even taking into account geography and patient characteristics. In response to the GAO's suggestion that CMS improve its ability to identify self-referred anatomic pathology services and limit financial incentives for high levels of referrals, HHS notes that it identified CPT code 88305 as a potentially misvalued code and reduced its reimbursement by approximately 30% percent in 2013, which HHS believes has significantly reduced the financial incentives associated with self-referral for these procedures.

In a second report, "Higher Use of Costly Prostate Cancer Treatment by Providers Who Self-Refer Warrants Scrutiny," the GAO examined self-referral of prostate cancer-related intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) services. According to the GAO, from 2006 to 2010, the number of IMRT procedures performed by self-referring groups increased rapidly (from about 80,000 to 366,000), while it declined for non-self-referring groups. This growth in self-referred services was primarily due to limited-specialty groups, particularly urologists, rather than multispecialty groups. Self-referring groups also were more likely to refer their patients for IMRT than other less costly treatments (e.g., radical prostatectomy or brachytherapy). Because Medicare providers are generally not required to disclose that they self-refer IMRT services, the GAO states that "beneficiaries may not be aware that their provider has a financial interest in recommending IMRT over alternative treatments that may be equally effective, have different risks and side effects, and are less expensive for Medicare and beneficiaries." The GAO recommended that CMS require providers to disclose their financial interests in IMRT to their patients; which HHS does not support because, among other things, it could be complex to administer and would not address overutilization. HHS also noted that the President has proposed excluding certain services from the in-office ancillary services exception to the physician self-referral law.

This article is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.