Senators Request Probe of Surgeons

In an article published today in the Wall Street Journal, five US Senators have asked the Department of Health and Human Services to open an investigation on physician-owned distributorships and entities that profit from the sale of medical devices to their patients.

At the heart of the issue are repeated studies that indicate an increase in utilization, and subsequent reimbursements from Medicaid and insurance companies, in cases where physicians have a direct financial benefit for referring patients to a particular center, product or service.

In some cases, these procedures have been proven to be unnecessary.  As in all cases, we encourage our clients to provide full disclosure to patients when recommending or referring them to a specific product or service facility in which they financially participate in. 

You can read more in the link below and we will continue to follow this issue as it develops. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304778304576373592455703056.html#