Carilion Clinic and the Federal Trade Commission staff can begin settlement negotiations in a dispute that began after Carilion purchased two outpatient centers a year ago.

The two have until Sept. 11 to discuss a settlement. The deadline could be extended with the approval of the commission.

On July 24, the FTC filed an administrative complaint challenging Roanoke-based Carilion's 2008 purchase of the Center for Advanced Imaging and the Center for Surgical Excellence. Two weeks later, Carilion offered to sell the two centers in a joint motion with the FTC that asked for permission to hold settlement talks.

The settlement would include Carilion's offer to sell both centers to "a buyer approved by the Commission," according to documents filed with the motion.

In order to hold settlement talks, Carilion and the FTC lawyers had to get permission to move the matter out of adjudication. That order was granted Tuesday and made public Wednesday.

"Both the parties want it, so there is no reason not to grant it," FTC spokesman Mitch Katz said. "We certainly would much rather settle than litigate, especially if we are going to get what we want."

Carilion spokesman Eric Earnhart said that the order allowing settlement talks to begin was not unexpected.

In the July complaint, the FTC suggested Carilion violated antitrust laws by purchasing the two centers. The government argued the purchase stifled competition in imaging and outpatient surgical services -- leaving Roanoke patients in jeopardy of paying higher prices and receiving poorer care.

Entering settlement talks does not guarantee that a settlement will be reached, Katz said.

"We won't settle if it doesn't resolve the anti-competitive concerns," he said.

Earnhart declined to comment further because discussions are ongoing.

This is only the second time the FTC has issued an administrative complaint alleging that a hospital's purchase of an outpatient facility violated antitrust laws. The other time was in 1994 when the FTC forced divestment after a hospital's acquisition of an outpatient center in Alaska, said Art Lerner, a partner in Crowell & Moring who specializes in health care antitrust cases.

Typically, FTC complaints have sought to block hospitals from acquiring other hospitals, Lerner said.

The Carilion case suggests the FTC is looking at antitrust concerns in the health care industry differently.

"Either it's different and this is a rather unique situation," Lerner said. "Or, on the other hand, this kind of thing has been creeping up on us and becoming a problem more frequently around the country."

Lerner directed the FTC's health care antitrust program from 1982 to 1985 and said he has previously done some work for Carilion about a decade ago.