Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

HHS' ability to track drug samples ups the risks for doctors. Picture this: Health & Human Services' OIG inspectors arrive at a physician office with a list of all the drug samples that the physician has received from pharma companies over the past two  years. And they want to cross check the information against the physician's records and billing. That scenario could become reality once a healthcare reform legislation provision goes into effect. Starting in 2012, drug companies will have to inform HHS annually what drug samples they gave to which physicians. Details required: The company will report in the aggregate, "I gave Dr. Jones in Morristown, New Jersey, 100 of this product, 50 of that product, etc.," says attorney John Oroho, in Morristown, N.J. The first reports will span from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2011, he adds. Bottom line: The reporting "provision will make it easier for the [...]