Last month, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced that it would start updating its Work Plan website on a monthly basis instead of only once or twice per year. Consistent with this new initiative, the OIG recently added four new inquiries to its Work Plan this month.
The new inquiries added this month include the following:
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Review of the Patient Safety Organization (PSO) Program – OIG will evaluate the reach and value of the PSO program among hospitals, assess Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality oversight of the PSO program, and identify the program’s challenges.
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Duplicate Drug Claims for Hospice Beneficiaries – Prior OIG work (A-06-10-00059) uncovered that Medicare may have made duplicate payments for prescription drugs for hospice beneficiaries, once under the Part A per diem rate and again under Part D. OIG will follow-up on its prior findings and evaluate the appropriateness of Part D drug claims for individuals who are receiving hospice benefits under Part A.
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Medicare Part B Payments for Psychotherapy Services – A previous OIG study found that Medicare paid for inappropriate outpatient mental health services, including psychotherapy services, as such services were allegedly not covered, inadequately documented, or medically unnecessary. OIG will review Part B payments for psychotherapy services to determine whether they were allowable consistent with Medicare documentation requirements.
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Ventilation Devices: Reasonableness of Medicare Payments Compared to Amounts Paid in the Open Market – OIG will determine the reasonableness of the fee schedule prices that Medicare and beneficiaries pay for ventilation devices compared to prices on the open market to identify potential wasteful spending in the Medicare program.
The recently added Work Plan items announced in August have an expected issue date of either 2018 and in one instance 2019, and the full list of new items is available here.
More information regarding the OIG’s initiative for monthly updates is available in the July 24, 2017 Health Headline on OIG Initiates Monthly Updates to its Work Plan and Adds New Items.
