fee-splitting

Noun

fee splitting (usually uncountable, plural fee splittings)

1. (usually) The practice, usually of questionable ethicality, by some professionals, such as medical doctors and lawyers, of sending a client to a second practitioner for an additional consultation in order to obtain another payment from the client or from his or her insurer, and in return for which the original practitioner receives a portion of the payment made to the second practitioner (a "commission" or "piece of the action").
   • While it is impossible to remove all financial pressures from the decision-making process, there are some practices, such as fee splitting, that are unethical because they so strongly influence practice patterns solely on the basis of financial considerations.1986 July 6, Dr. Carl Weber, “Westchester Opinion: Challenge to Doctor's Ethics Emerges”, in New York Times