Physician Self-Referral: Frequency of Negative Findings at MR Imaging of the Knee as a Marker of Appropriate Utilization

In a comparison of one practice with financial incentives for MR imaging and one practice with no incentives, the rate of negative results at MR imaging was significantly higher for patients in the practice with financial incentives; this occurred despite otherwise highly similar histopathologic abnormalities, demographic characteristics, and referring physician characteristics between the two groups.