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New compensation model allows hospitals to recruit physicians without violating Stark law When a hospital wants to recruit a physician to practice in its community, it generally faces two problems. First, the Stark self-referral laws limit the means that the hospital can use to recruit a physician (e.g., the hospital can pay for only certain recruitment costs). Second, a physician who is new to private practice likely will be unprepared to practice independently, causing the new practice to struggle. However, hospitals now have a tool to address both of these problems in the form of a new "incubator" compensation model, which allows a hospital to grow a practice and bypass certain recruitment restrictions, says Craig Hunter, associate partner with Alpharetta, GA-based practice management consulting firm The Coker Group.