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Compliance

Compliance

Telehealth fraud

3 Recent Cases Show Providers Charged With Telehealth Fraud

Telehealth has become such an important part of our lives that it’s now second nature for many medical practices. That doesn’t mean you can become complacent, however. The reality is that auditors are still scrutinizing telehealth claims to look for instances of wrongdoing, and several recent cases highlight how telehealth fraud scrutiny may even be […]
Marijuana in the workplace

6 Ways to Protect a Practice From Marijuana Impairment Errors

If your practice is in an area where marijuana is legal, you may think you should just look the other way when staff members are using marijuana in the workplace. But if you adopt this philosophy, you could be setting yourself up for massive liability issues. Why? One federal study found that employees who test […]
Urine drug testing

3 Compliance Tips to Follow When Billing Urine Drug Testing

Because urine drug testing (UDT) codes don’t bring in massive reimbursement on a per-claim basis, many practices think the OIG isn’t paying much attention to these services — but that misconception can get you into trouble. In fact, the OIG frequently comes after practices that incorrectly report drug testing services, not only asking for refunds, […]
Reverse false claims

How Reverse False Claims May Land Your Practice in Hot Water

As most medical practices are aware, the government is the largest healthcare payer in the United States, and the country works hard to protect the funds that go out to pay for medical services and procedures. One way that goal is achieved is through the False Claims Act, a law that allows the government to […]
ChatGPT

5 Possible Healthcare Compliance Risks From Using ChatGPT

Whether you’ve spent hours learning ChatGPT or you’re just dipping your toe into this relatively new artificial intelligence technology, one thing is clear: ChatGPT is probably being used somewhere in your medical practice, and it could be putting you at risk of compliance problems. Why? Because even if it’s helpful in filling out charts or […]
Telehealth across state lines

Telehealth Across State Lines: Can Professional Assns. Help?

The COVID-19 pandemic led to countless changes in how clinicians provided services, and one such change boosted the use of telehealth and increased the number of patients who were transient. When patients left one state and moved to another—whether temporarily or permanently—it created issues for many providers who wanted to keep seeing them over telehealth. […]
Telehealth toolkit

How to Use the OIG’s Telehealth Toolkit to Benefit Your Practice

If you’re curious about where you stand in terms of telehealth claim compliance, the OIG has a new tool that may help you sort things out. By using the government’s Telehealth Toolkit, you can evaluate how payers are reviewing telehealth claims and shore up any issues that may exist among your own. Check out a […]
Informed consent

4 Ways to Confirm You’ve Gotten Patient Informed Consent

There’s a lot more to the patient informed consent laws than having your patients sign off on a form. In actuality, they must truly understand what they’re consenting to, and that starts with ensuring they have the capacity to understand. Your practice must be able to determine which patients have that ability and which don’t, […]
Corporate integrity agreement

CIA vs. Exclusions: What to Know About Each Option

If your practice is under investigation by the OIG, there’s a chance you may face penalties and sanctions for whatever wrongdoing the feds find. For some providers, this may mean facing the threat of exclusion from the Medicare program, or entering into a corporate integrity agreement (CIA). You’ll need to have an attorney well-versed in […]
Service animal

4 Do’s and 6 Don’ts When Addressing Patient Service Animals

When your patient brings a service animal into your practice, they have expectations that you’ll accept their animal in accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act requirements, as well as state and local laws. However, other patients have expectations as well, and those may not align with seeing animals in your waiting room. To ensure […]