Compliance News Roundup: New Items Added to the OIG Work Plan (March 2018)

1. Malware Attack Causes Breach of 134,512 Patient Records – “A malware attack on St. Peter’s Surgery and Endoscopy Center in New York potentially gave hackers access to 134,512 patient records, which makes it the second-largest breach this year. It’s also the largest breach to hit New York state since the breach of more than 3.4 million records of Newkirk Products in 2016. Hackers gained access to St. Peter’s server on Jan. 8, and the breach was discovered by officials on the same day. Quickly detecting the malware limited the time hackers had access to the server, but the investigation couldn’t rule out whether patient data was viewed, accessed or stolen.” Get the full scoop >>

2. Hospitals Did Not Comply With Medicare Requirements for Reporting Certain Cardiac Device Credits – “Prior OIG reviews found that hospitals did not always comply with Medicare requirements for reporting credits received from manufacturers for replaced medical devices. Recalls of medical devices can be quite costly to the Medicare program. A recent OIG review estimated that services related to the replacement of seven recalled and prematurely failed medical devices cost Medicare $1.5 billion during calendar years 2005 through 2014.” Get the full scoop >>

3. Deeper Than the Headlines: New items added to the OIG Work Plan (March 2018) – In this installment of Deeper Than the Headlines, I talk about the OIG work plan and the new items added to it in March of 2018. The OIG has added seven new items to their work plan in March 2018. Let’s look at a few of them a little more closely. Get the full scoop >>