Washington

Starting Jan. 1, 2002, physicians will be blocked from referring Medicare patients to providers, suppliers, labs, home health agencies or any other companies with which they have a financial relationship.

The Department of Health and Human Services regulation implements a 1993 law to clarify which business relationships between doctors and other health care providers are acceptable. The regulation also states that hospitals and other health care entities aren't guilty of self-referral "if they did not know or had no reason to suspect that they had an indirect financial relationship with a referring physician." The regulation also states that small gifts, such as sport tickets, won't be considered compensation.

In other HHS news, Inspector General June Gibbs Brown has retired. Michael Mangano, principal deputy inspector general, is serving as the acting inspector general until a replacement is named.