Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Seeks efficiency through electronic payments The Office of Inspector General has changed its rules for requesting advisory opinions in an interim final rule published in the March 26 Federal Register. The OIG will no longer ask for initial deposits and will require electronic payments, the agency says in the statement. "We believe these regulatory changes will better reflect current electronic payment methods, will increase efficiency in processing payments from requesters and will benefit requesters by consolidating their payment obligations into one final payment," the OIG says. The rule is online at http://www.oig.hhs.gov/authorities/docs/08/73_fr_15937.pdf. More information on advisory opinions, under which the OIG considers proposed business arrangements in light of kickback concerns, is at http://www.oig.hhs.gov/fraud/advisoryopinions.html.