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Stark Law

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Submitted By gmalott
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Overview
Overview
Section 1877 of the Social Security Act (the Act) (42 U.S.C. 1395nn), also known as the physician self-referral law, or Stark Law, intends to prevent the misappropriation of or over utilization of healthcare that could result from incentivized diagnostic ordering protocols that may be a direct result of financial relationships that could influence healthcare decisions. The law is named for its author, United State Congressman Pete Stark, a Democrat from California, who authored and supported the creation of this piece of legislation.
The law’s purpose is to prohibit a physician from referring a patient for designated health services (DHS) to any organization that the physician or a member of his/her immediate family has a financial relationship. Exceptions to the law exist and will be examined in later sections of this reflection.
Originally the Stark Law (Stark I) only applied to referrals of Medicare Beneficiaries, but Section 1877 of the Social Security Act (the Act) (42 U.S.C. 1395nn), also known as the physician self-referral law, or Stark Law, intends to prevent the misappropriation of or over utilization of healthcare that could result from incentivized diagnostic ordering protocols that may be a direct result of financial relationships that could influence healthcare decisions. The law is named for its author, United State Congressman Pete Stark, a Democrat from California, who authored and supported the creation of this piece of legislation.
The law’s purpose is to prohibit a physician from referring a patient for designated health services (DHS) to any organization that the physician or a member of his/her immediate family has a financial relationship. Exceptions to the law exist and will be examined in later sections of this reflection.
Originally the Stark Law (Stark I) only applied to referrals of Medicare

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