2019-22028: Medicare Program; Modernizing and Clarifying the Physician Self-Referral Regulations

Summary

This proposed rule would address any undue regulatory impact and burden of the physician self-referral law. This proposed rule is being issued in conjunction with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Patients over Paperwork initiative and the Department of Health and Human Services' (the Department or HHS) Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care. This proposed rule proposes exceptions to the physician self-referral law for certain value-based compensation arrangements between or among physicians, providers, and suppliers. It would also create a new exception for certain arrangements under which a physician receives limited remuneration for items or services actually provided by the physician; create a new exception for donations of cybersecurity technology and related services; and amend the existing exception for electronic health records (EHR) items and services. This proposed rule also provides critically necessary guidance for physicians and health care providers and suppliers whose financial relationships are governed by the physician self-referral statute and regulations.

The agency’s own summary, as published.

What this changes

Amends 1 part of the Code of Federal Regulations — the standing rules this notice rewrites.

• 42 CFR 411 Exclusions from Medicare and Limitations on Medicare Payment