Compliance News Roundup: Inspector General Keynote Address at HCCA

1. Miami-Based Physician Charged for Role in Pain Pill Diversion and Medicare Fraud Scheme - A physician licensed in Puerto Rico, who was practicing medicine in Miami, was charged in a 16-count indictment unsealed today for his alleged participation in a multi-faceted $20 million health care fraud scheme involving the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid and the illegal distribution of oxycodone and other controlled substances. Read more here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/miami-based-physician-charged-role-pain-pill-diversion-and-medicare-fraud-scheme

2. $5.5 million HIPAA settlement shines light on the importance of audit controls - Memorial Healthcare System (MHS) has paid the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) $5.5 million to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules and agreed to implement a robust corrective action plan. MHS is a nonprofit corporation which operates six hospitals, an urgent care center, a nursing home, and a variety of ancillary health care facilities throughout the South Florida area. MHS is also affiliated with physician offices through an Organized Health Care Arrangement (OHCA). Read more here: https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2017/02/16/hipaa-settlement-shines-light-on-the-importance-of-audit-controls.html

3. DTH: Deeper Than Headline IG Keynote Address at HCCA - Daniel Levinson, Inspector General of HHS, was a keynote speaker on Monday, March 27th at the HCCA’s Compliance Institute. Every year most attendees eagerly listen to what he has to say. Among other things, he spoke of what he termed “Compliance 2.0.” Compliance as a profession has been developing over the last 20+ years. We’ve reached a point where compliance programs are maturing and the profession as a whole has really moved into a 2.0 version and paramount to that version of compliance is what Levinson described as bringing together both technology and the right expertise. His remarks were broken down into the ‘human component’ as well as the ‘technology component.’ Deeper Than the Headlines: IG Keynote Address at HCCA