Compliance News Roundup: Need some advice? Don’t forget to check out the OIG’s Advisory Opinions

1. Missouri Hospital Settles Case Involving Patient Dumping Allegations - “On October 17, 2017, Southeast Missouri Hospital (SEM), Cape Girardeau, Missouri, entered into a $100,000 settlement agreement with OIG. The settlement agreement resolves allegations that SEM violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act when it failed to provide an adequate medical screening examination and stabilizing treatment for two patients who presented to SEM's Emergency Department (ED) in 2011. OIG alleged that instead of being properly evaluated and treated, the patients were discharged with unstabilized emergency medical conditions to the custody of police pursuant to a hospital policy: if a patient had a blood alcohol level (BAL) above 100, the patient was given to local law enforcement and taken to jail.” Get the full scoop >>

2. RI Doctor Admits to Healthcare Fraud, Accepting Kickbacks for Prescribing Highly Addictive Version of Fentanyl- “WASHINGTON — Dr. Jerrold N. Rosenberg, 63 of North Providence and Jamestown, R.I., the operator of a now-defunct pain management practice in Rhode Island, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence, R.I., today to conspiring to solicit and receive kickbacks in connection with his prescribing of the drug Subsys, a fast-acting, powerful, and highly-addictive version of the opioid drug Fentanyl that is administered as an under-the-tongue spray, and to committing healthcare fraud.” Get the full scoop >>

3. Deeper Than the Headlines: Why You Should Take Advice from the OIG Advisory Opinions - “We all could use some advice every now and then, especially in the world of healthcare compliance. It’s one thing to know the generalities of fraud and abuse laws or regulations, but applying that understanding to a specific context can be frustrating for some folks. One way to gain a better understanding of how the OIG might look at a certain situation or set of facts as they relate to fraud and abuse laws, is to submit a request for an OIG Advisory Opinion.

In fact, in accordance with the Social Security Act, the OIG will issue advisory opinions about the application of the OIG’s fraud and abuse authorities to the requesting party’s existing or proposed business arrangement. The good thing is that the law requires that these advisory opinions be made available to the public. The OIG meets this requirement by posting the opinions on their website.” Get the full scoop >>

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