On May 13, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services issued the final rule implementing Section 1557, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age,…
Overpayments: Reporting and Returning Deadline
The long awaited ruling on reporting and returning overpayments is now in the Federal Register and will become effective on March 14, 2016. As stated in §401.303, an overpayment is…
Individual’s Rights to Access PHI
An individual’s right to access their protected health information (PHI) should be nothing new to covered entities. In 1996, HIPAA Privacy Rule detailed an individual’s right to access PHI. As…
Deadline for Breach Reporting Coming Soon
As the end of the year approaches, keep in mind that all breaches of unsecured protected health information involving less than 500 individuals must be reported to the Secretary at…
OIG WORKPLAN 2016
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is responsible for protecting the integrity of the programs in Health and Human Services against fraud, waste and abuse as well as recommending…
Overview of a Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA)
Health care fraud recoveries for fiscal years 2009- 2014 exceeded previous records with five straight years of more than $2 billion in annual recovery from cases involving fraud and false…
Are You Prepared for the HIPAA Phase 2 Audits?
After reviewing the HIPAA Privacy case investigations from 2009-2011, the Office of the Inspector General sent a strong message to the Office of Civil Rights in regard to the administration…
Complying with Stark Law: Can you bill Medicare when treating your family members?
The treatment of family members falls under General Exclusions from Coverage under Medicare. No payment will be made for items or services for a family member when the charge is…
LEIE: Do You Know About the List of Excluded Individuals and Entities?
The Exclusions Statute is one of five major federal fraud and abuse laws. Exclusion is an administrative remedy that is in the form of a penalty imposed on a provider.…
Are you trying to prevent medical identity theft?
Medical identity theft continues to be major problem in the US with approximately 2.32 million adults or close family members falling victim in 2014. According to the Fifth Annual Study…