By Ron Norman
Washington, D.C. – the home of many of our federal agencies and where the magic happens that results in the laws and regulations that we Compliance professionals nerd out over. The backdrop of the White House, Capital Building, and the Supreme Court Building seems appropriate when listening to industry experts as well as representatives from the agencies that enforce those regulations that help protect the federal dollars that are spent on health care from being lost to fraud, waste, and abuse.
Today, I had the opportunity to learn more about current trends in enforcement actions for the HIPAA Privacy and Security rules as well as developments in Stark law and Anti-kickback Statute litigation. I then was able to hear from representatives on both sides of criminal fraud case prosecution/defense as well as determinations in regards to federal program exclusion and the assessment of civil monetary penalties. With each presentation, I am able to obtain validation for what our department and program do to help reinforce ethical and legal behavior in regards to the provision of healthcare as well as take-home ideas to strengthen our program to become more effective. Compliance professionals and federal agency representatives should and see themselves as partners, which is what I see embodied in these presentations. I look forward to learning over the next few days and continuing in my Compliance journey.