News — medicaid

A movie called Fools Rush In came out in 1997 (worth noting this was over 20 years ago). Three years later in October 2000 the federal Office of the Inspector General (OIG) established written compliance program guidelines for Individual and Small Group Physician Practices. The OIG’s compliance guidelines outline seven elements as voluntary measures individual and small group physician practice (and dental practices) should implement in effort to demonstrate their commitment to prevent criminal fraud and a high level of corporate integrity.    The seven elements include:  1.     Implementing written policies, procedures and standards of conduct. 2.     Designating a compliance officer and...

Sometimes when you mess up – and that mess up involves Medicare, Medicaid, or funds from another government healthcare program – not only do you have to fix the mess, but you may also have to go back and make amends to limit your liability and hedge against civil and/or criminal prosecution later. Hospitals do it. Physician groups do it. Ambulance providers do it. Home health does it. What? Get busted for coding, documentation, and billing problems. The federal government developed the Self-Disclosure Protocol (“SDP”) for healthcare providers to be able to bring themselves forward to the government in a...

If the government and third-party payors know you maintain an effective compliance program and have your ducks in a row, you are less likely to get picked on in the first place! We have seen it happen.

If you are an administrator or compliance officer for a dental practice and you are looking for solutions to concerns that keep you up at night or you’re looking for an ally for support or an existing compliance program or you are looking to develop a compliance program, but don’t know what to do or how to go about it, we will love to have a chat with you.