Otolaryngology Coding Alert

Question: I know that different reports come out periodically to show the issues or procedures that the OIG is paying closer attention to. What’s the latest on this for 2016?

Louisiana Subscriber

Answer: Many target items in the HHS Office of Inspector General’s (OIG’s) recently released Compendium of Unimplemented Recommendations align with its “Top Management & Performance Challenges.”

Here are the OIG’s top challenges facing HHS compiled for 2015 and included in the April 2016 Compendium:

1. Protecting an expanding Medicaid program from fraud, waste, and abuse.
2. Fighting fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare Parts A and B.
3. The meaningful and secure exchange and use of electronic information and health IT.
4. Administration of grants, contracts, and financial and administrative management systems.
5. Ensuring appropriate use of prescription drugs.
6. Ensuring quality in nursing home, hospice, and home- and community-based care.
7. Implementing, operating, and overseeing the health insurance marketplace.
8. Reforming delivery and payment in healthcare programs.
9. Effectively operating public health and human services programs.
10. Ensuring the safety of food, drugs, and medical devices.

Resource: For more information, check out the OIG’s 2016 Mid-Year Work Plan at http://oig.hhs.gov/reports-and-publications/workplan/index.asp.