Background: Some urology groups have integrated intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), a radiation treatment with a high reimbursement rate, into their practice. This is permitted by the exception for in-office ancillary services in the federal prohibition against self-referral. I examined the association between ownership of IMRT services and use of IMRT to treat prostate cancer.
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Methods: Using Medicare claims from 2005 through 2010, I constructed two samples: one comprising 35 self-referring urology groups in private practice and a matched control group comprising 35 non-self-referring urology groups in private practice, and the other comprising non-self-referring urologists employed at 11 National Comprehensive Cancer Network centers matched with 11 self-referring urology groups in private practice. I compared the use of IMRT in the periods before and during ownership and used a difference-in-differences analysis to evaluate changes in IMRT use according to self-referral status.
Results: The rate of IMRT use by self-referring urologists in private practice increased from 13.1 to 32.3%, an increase of 19.2 percentage points (P< 0.001). Among non-self-referring urologists, the rate of IMRT use increased from 14.3 to 15.6%, an increase of 1.3 percentage points (P=0.05). The unadjusted difference-in-differences effect was 17.9 percentage points (P< 0.001). The regression-adjusted increase in IMRT use associated with self-referral was 16.4 percentage points (P< 0.001). The rate of IMRT use by urologists working at National Comprehensive Cancer Network centers remained stable at 8.0% but increased by 33.0 percentage points among the 11 matched self-referring urology groups. The regression-adjusted difference-in-differences effect was 29.3 percentage points (P< 0.001).
Conclusions: Urologists who acquired ownership of IMRT services increased their use of IMRT substantially more than urologists who did not own such services. Allowing urologists to self-refer for IMRT may contribute to increased use of this expensive therapy. (Funded by the American Society for Radiation Oncology.).
Written by:
Mitchell JM Are you the author?
From Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Reference: N Engl J Med. 2013 Oct 24;369(17):1629-37.
doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa1201141
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 24152262
