One of the largest recent cases of violating the physician self-referral law (also called the Stark law)—which prevents physicians from financially benefiting from patient referrals—made headlines recently.

Intermountain Healthcare, Utah's biggest health system, will pay more than $25 million as a result of the violations, which include tying doctors' bonuses to their patient referrals and compensating physicians without having written contracts. This case is a wake-up call of the importance of compliance.

The American College of Cardiology has developed resources to help you navigate this complex topic. Get up-to-speed on fraud and abuse, including the Stark law and other health care regulations. The full set of compliance resources is available on CardioSource.org.