Articles and Blogs

On June 24, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) released a final rule implementing disincentives for health care providers who are found by the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) to have engaged in information blocking practices as defined under the 21st Century Cures Act. This rule establishes a framework for the... READ MORE

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently issued Advisory Opinion No. 23-15 (“Advisory Opinion”), a favorable opinion involving a consulting firm’s (“Requestor”) proposal to offer gift cards to its existing physician practice customers for referring potential new customers. The OIG approved the Proposed Arrangement (defined below), noting... READ MORE

On November 6, 2023, the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued new General Compliance Program Guidance (“GCPG”) for members of the health care compliance community and other health care stakeholders. Since the release of its first compliance program guidance (“CPG”) for hospitals in 1998, OIG has developed a... READ MORE

The Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that most skilled nursing facilities (“nursing homes”) in Georgia that it surveyed are not correctly complying with life safety requirements or emergency preparedness requirements. OIG recently issued a report on its audits of life safety requirements or emergency... READ MORE

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs recently released the Biden administration’s Spring 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (the “Unified Agenda”). Contained in the Unified Agenda is an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking from the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) of a proposed rule which would, among other changes, expand the... READ MORE

Most skilled nursing facilities are not correctly complying with life safety requirements or emergency preparedness requirements, according to three recent reports by the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. OIG recently issued three reports on its audits of life safety requirements or emergency preparedness requirements:... READ MORE

The Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) and Department of Justice (“DOJ”) often release information about compliance settlements under the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”), including both the settlement value and the subject arrangement. The most recent data from 2018 shows several of these settlements arose from real estate arrangements and some involved millions of dollars... READ MORE

On August 27, 2018, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published a Request for Information (“RFI”) regarding the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) and Civil Monetary Penalties Law (“CMP”). The RFI, published as a result of HHS’s desire to transition the current health care system to one that pays... READ MORE