Joseph Sewards, MD, chair of orthopedic surgery and Sports Medicine at Philadelphia-based Temple University, joined Becker’s to discuss why he’s eyeing this trend.
Question: What Stark law issues are you keeping an eye on?
Editor’s note: This response was edited lightly for brevity and clarity
Dr. Sewards: I think the recent exemption in the Stark law for health systems and hospitals to be able to provide mental health services to physicians is what I have my eye on. I don’t know of any hospital that was withholding those essential services for fear of violating Stark, but anything that removes any barriers to access mental health services for physicians is a huge step. There already are enough barriers out there, and physician burnout and other signs of deteriorating mental health/wellness is getting to be a problem that is quickly getting out of control.
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