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<strong>CMS</strong>-1403-FC<br />

and PCs supervised or performed by a physician who performs<br />

“substantially all” of his or her professional services for<br />

the billing physician or other supplier, “hub and spoke”<br />

arrangements of multi-specialty groups should not have<br />

significant difficulty avoiding application of the anti-<br />

markup provisions. We understand the commenter’s concerns<br />

about the use of the in-office ancillary services exception<br />

and may propose rulemaking on this issue in the future.<br />

Comment: A commenter stated that dermatologic<br />

surgeons who order and read their own diagnostic tests<br />

should not be penalized for doing so by the addition of new<br />

and overly cumbersome regulations that the commenter argued<br />

are inconsistent with the existing physician self-referral<br />

law. According to the commenter, a dermatopathologist <strong>has</strong><br />

the expertise to diagnose and monitor diseases of the skin,<br />

which entails the examination and interpretation of<br />

specially prepared tissue sections, cellular scrapings, and<br />

smears of skin lesions by means of routine and special<br />

(electron and fluorescent) microscopes. The commenter was<br />

also concerned that patient access to care in rural and<br />

underserved areas will be affected. The commenter urged<br />

that practices that order and interpret their own<br />

diagnostic tests in these areas should have the same<br />

ability to recoup the costs of equipment, space, and<br />

517

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