The Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) kicked off its 22nd Annual Compliance Institute on Monday, April 16, 2018. During the opening remarks, Inspector General Daniel Levinson, of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General Office (OIG), announced the rollout of a new public resource to assist companies in ensuring compliance with Federal health care laws. The Compliance Resource Portal on the OIG’s website features:
- Toolkits
- Advisory opinions
- Provider Compliance Resource and Training
- Voluntary Compliance and Exclusions Resources
- Resources for Health Care Boards and Physicians
- Accountable Care Organizations
- Special Fraud Alerts, Other Guidance, and Safe Harbors
The main benefit of the portal is that it streamlines public access to helpful compliance guidance resources, and allows for OIG to highlight new materials and updates. For example, the portal already indicates that a Toolkit to Identify Patients at Risk of Opioid Misuse is “coming soon.”
In addition to announcing the portal, the Inspector General also touched on the dynamic shift in compliance considerations due to changes in the health care industry. Shifts such as the move towards value based care and the increase in role of technology create new risks and issues for providers, which makes user-friendly public access to compliance resources increasingly more important.
The Inspector General also emphasized the OIG’s focus on the “power of data” when it comes to compliance. Mr. Levinson’s remarks indicated that data-driven decision making is crucial to navigating risk-mitigation waters, and that consequently the OIG places high value on the diligent collection and review of data in the compliance context.