Opinion No. (1998)

DANIEL E. LUNGREN Attorney General GREGORY L. GONOT Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE BILL MORROW, MEMBER OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY, has requested an opinion on the following question: If a physician pays a portion of the expenses of a clinical laboratory that is located in the office of another physician and orders laboratory tests from the laboratory but is not physically present when the tests are performed, may the physician charge a patient a fee for the tests in addition to the fee charged by the laboratory? CONCLUSION If a physician pays a portion of the expenses of a clinical laboratory that is located in the office of another physician and orders laboratory tests from the laboratory but is not physically present when the tests are performed, the physician may not charge a patient a fee for the tests in addition to the fee charged by the laboratory. ANALYSIS Business and Professions Code section 655.5 1 provides in part as follows: "(a) It is unlawful for any person licensed under this division or under any initiative act referred to in this division, or any clinical laboratory, or any health facility when billing for a clinical laboratory of the facility, to…