Physician Network Antitrust Guidelines Issued by FTC and DOJ

At the end of August, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) released the long-anticipated third set of revisions of the joint FTC/DOJ Statements of Antitrust Enforcement Policy in Health Care, first issued in 1993 and modified in 1994. The revisions modify the two "safety zones" most discussed by physicians and hospitals: the physician network joint venture and multiprovider network guidelines. The issuance of the revisions is in part a response to provider criticisms, particularly the AMA's, that the agencies' antitrust enforcement policies were a barrier to the formation of physician-sponsored networks.

In January 1997, the FTC issued additional clarification regarding conduct involving healthcare providers. The FTC link below takes you to the Federal Trade Commission home page, from which you can find the guidelines, and the USDOJ link takes you directly to a TOC of the guidelines themselves. Both offer PDF and WordPerfect formats; the FTC site also offers the guidelines in html.

www.ftc.gov

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Useful Links

Physician Network Antitrust Guidelines Issued by FTC and DOJ

www.ftc.gov