Many diagnostic radiology groups around the country have robust interventional radiology practices that provide minimally invasive procedures using imaging for guidance, such as angiography, angioplasty, biopsy, stenting, cryotherapy, and embolization. Because many interventional radiologists practice clinically, as treating physicians, and may order diagnostic radiology and ultrasound tests as part of their practice, they sometime refer Medicare and Medicaid patients to the radiology group's imaging center. When an interventional radiologist holds an ownership interest in the imaging center, directly or indirectly through the group, the federal physician self-referral law (commonly referred to as the "Stark Law") requires that the interventional radiologist's financial interest fit within an exception to the general prohibition on self-referrals.
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