Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 112 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 12Z the following section:-

Section 12AA. A physician who refers a patient for physical therapy services to any partnership, corporation, firm or other legal entity in which the physician has a financial ownership interest shall disclose such interest to the patient and shall inform the patient that such services may be available from other physical therapists in the patient's community.

For the purposes of this section, the term "ownership interest" shall mean any and all ownership interest including, but not limited to, any membership, proprietary interest, stock interest, partnership interest, co-ownership in any form or any profit-sharing arrangement.

The board of registration in medicine may prescribe by regulation that physicians report such ownership interest and referrals to the said board. Violation of this section may constitute grounds for disciplinary action by the board of registration in medicine.

SECTION 2. Said chapter 112 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 23P the following section:-

Section 23P 1/2. Any physical therapist who is involved in the private practice of physical therapy, to whom a patient is referred by a physician who derives income directly or indirectly from the physical therapy service, shall disclose to the patient that the referring physician derives income from the provision of such service.

For the purposes of this section, the term "ownership interest" shall mean any and all ownership interest including, but not limited to, any membership, proprietary interest, stock interest, partnership interest, co-ownership in any form or any profit-sharing arrangement.

The board of allied health professionals may prescribe by regulation that physical therapists report such ownership interests and referrals to the said board. Violation of this section may constitute grounds for disciplinary action by the board of allied health professionals.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect on March first, nineteen hundred and eighty-eight.