Earlier this month, the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (“OIG”), the agency charged with enforcement of key federal fraud and abuse laws, published its annual Work Plan identifying the areas of compliance concern under the Medicare program on which it will focus its review efforts in the coming year.
While the Work Plan does not provide much detail in terms of why particular areas have been identified for review, it can serve as a useful tool for physicians and other providers to identify specific areas on which they should be focusing their compliance efforts. Among other areas of potential concern for physician practices, the 2017 Work Plan identifies the following as subjects of focus by the OIG:
-Outpatient Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy;
-Billing for prosthetics and orthotics;
-Billing for personally performed anesthesia services;
-Chiropractic billing;
-Billing for Physical Therapy by Therapists in Independent Practice.
In addition, the OIG will be studying whether there is any correlation between physicians who receive payments from drug and device manufacturers and the ordering and prescribing activities of those physicians. The basis for this review will be data reported by drug and device manufacturers under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act contained in the Affordable Care Act.
The entire FY 2017 Work Plan can be viewed on the OIG’s website.