News

One recent afternoon I received a call from a dentist (I’ll call him Dr. Bob) who had hired me to give compliance lectures for his group of fellow dentists. I had a tremendous amount of respect for Dr. Bob who always seemed to appreciate my expertise. I often wondered why h...

Physician practices and hospitals routinely audit for compliance, risk management, revenue cycle and quality of care issues.  They don’t necessarily like it, but they’ve settled into the routine of doing it to minimize their losses in the ever-increasing fight for dollars b...

Whether your practice/dental service organization participates with Medicaid or not you could be required to fulfill the following annual training requirements....

Each year there are approximately 384,000 sharps related injuries to health care workers. That amounts to about 1,000 injuries per day at an average cost of about $3042 per victim. $1 Billion is spent annually on lab fees, testing, counseling, and post exposure follow ups f...

There’s a rumor going around town. A new drug dealer has moved in. You soon find out… the rumor is about you. You are the new drug dealer in town. How? Let’s find out. It is important that dentists know and understand that issues related to controlled substances can ...

I talk with numerous dentists and staff about HIPAA compliance in their offices as I travel and lecture on HIPAA compliance. I am deeply concerned about dentist and staff members’ attitudes about HIPAA compliance. I’d like to share them with you to help you understand the a...

When a dentist or DSO (or any other healthcare entity) get busted for Fraud, Waste or Abuse (FWA) issues the government may decline criminal prosecution in favor of a civil settlement known as a Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA). There is much to unpack about CIAs. Here i...

To be HIPAA compliant Covered Entities (Dental Offices and DSOs) and Business Associates are required to have written policies and procedures, know them, follow them, and enforce them! Sadly this is something ALMOST every dental office fails to comply with. You may have a H...

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...

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/...