Government Studies of Physician-Owned Laboratories-Reply

In Reply.—  The testimony cited in our article summarized the findings of research studies undertaken by the Inspector General and General Accounting Office in 1988 and 1989 and was presented before the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Ways and Means of the US House of Representatives on June 1, 1989.¹ Both studies involved primary data collection and analysis of Medicare claims data.In the Inspector General's study, two surveys of health care providers were conducted to determine the prevalence of physician financial arrangements with other health entities and the nature of such arrangements. One survey was of physicians and the other of independent clinical laboratories, physiological laboratories, and suppliers of durable medical equipment. Medicare claims information from the Health Care Financing Administration was used to assess utilization patterns for physicianowners identified in the survey of health care businesses.²The General Accounting Office study involved a survey