A. No physician licensed to practice medicine or osteopathy in the Commonwealth shall:

1. Knowingly and willfully, directly or indirectly, share any professional fee received for the provision of health services, as defined in § 54.1-2410, to a patient with another physician licensed to practice medicine or osteopathy in the Commonwealth in return for such other physician's making a referral, as defined in § 54.1-2410, of such patient to the physician providing such health services; or

2. Accept any portion of a professional fee paid to another physician licensed to practice medicine or osteopathy in the Commonwealth for the provision of health services, as defined in § 54.1-2410, to a patient in return for making a referral, as defined in § 54.1-2410, of such patient to the physician providing such health services.

B. This chapter shall not be construed as prohibiting (i) the members of any regularly organized partnership or group practice, as defined in § 54.1-2410, of physicians licensed to practice medicine or osteopathy in the Commonwealth from making any division of their total fees among themselves as they may determine or using their joint fees to defray their joint operating costs; (ii) arrangements permitted under the Practitioner Self-Referral Act (§ 54.1-2410 et seq.); or (iii) payments, business arrangements, or payment practices that would be permitted in accordance with 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)(3) if such payments, business arrangements, or payment practices involved an underlying payment source that was a federal health care program, as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(f), regardless of whether the underlying payment source actually is a federal health care program or other bona fide payment source.

C. Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Code 1950, § 54-278; 1956, c. 389; 1988, c. 765; 2016, cc. 76, 104.