A federal district judge has temporarily blocked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from enforcing a provision in a November 2007 rule that would have made substantial changes to the way physicians bill for anatomic pathology diagnostic testing services.

Judge Rosemary Collyer, with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, entered a preliminary injunction March 31 enjoining the enforcement of a provision in the anti-markup rule that applied to anatomic pathology diagnostic testing services provided in a centralized building, as defined in the physician self-referral regulations (known as the Stark rules).

The outcome of the ruling means physicians and other providers can continue, for now, billing for such services as they did before the November 2007 rule.

For more on the injunction, see the May issue of G-2 Compliance Report.