HHS Inspector General news from FierceHealthcare
News
HHS Inspector General says on-call pay for ED is OK
Hospitals everywhere must be thrilled, given their ongoing concerns over how to manage the growing shortage of specialists in emergency departments. The HHS inspector general's office has just issued... Read more...
HHS Inspector general collects $2.35B in 2008
Last year, HHS's inspector general's office collected $2.35 billion through legal judgments it obtained or agreements it struck after investigations, according to a new performance report from its... Read more...
FDA slammed by HHS OIG for lax conflict-of-interest oversight
A new report from the HHS inspector general's office comes down hard on the FDA, arguing that the agency isn't doing enough to make sure clinical-trial sponsors stay on top of their researchers'... Read more...
OIG: Part-time employees also exempt from anti-kickback laws
Good news for part-time physician employees: the OIG has given an advisory opinion allowing part-time physicians to be paid for seeing publicly insured patients without violating federal... Read more...
OIG: Doctors can have group practice while maintaining private practices
Determining what is actually considered a kickback by CMS or the HHS' Inspector General's office can be tough sometimes; thus, a group of 23 physicians and podiatrists asked for both groups' opinions... Read more...
HHS: Part-time physician employees can accept public payments
It seems that a potentially thorny issue has been ironed out by the HHS Inspector General's office. Part-time physician employees are not violating federal anti-kickback laws by accepting wages for... Read more...
HHS reports: Adverse-event reporting not consistent
Twenty-six states operate event-reporting systems. However, according to two reports released by the HHS' inspector general's office, 15 of those states said that hospitals don't always report their... Read more...
DaVita subpoenaed by HHS Inspector General
Renal-care firm DaVita has received a subpoena from the HHS Inspector General's office asking for documents related to its use of vitamin D and anemia drugs. The company, which disclosed the request... Read more...
HHS: 60 percent of DME companies banned by Medicare may keep billing
The HHS' Inspector General's office has released a report on a small study of durable medical equipment companies whose Medicare billing privileges had been revoked, and the news is not good. As... Read more...
Medicare fraud cuts disputed by IG
In 2006, CMS said that it had managed to cut the level of Medicare fraud by billions of dollars, and basked in the praise of lawmakers who commended the agency's good stewardship. The problem: the... Read more...
