One of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General’s (OIG’s) key compliance priorities is modernizing the agency’s program integrity and compliance information.

OIG has explained that its goals for this priority are to continue producing timely and useful resources and to make the resources it provides easier to access and use, to spur innovation and improve compliance programs.  On September 22, in furtherance of these goals, OIG posted a request for information (RFI) on its website.

OIG Seeks to Understand Value of Its Resources

Although all of the guidance available on OIG’s website remains “good guidance,” many of the resources have not been updated in decades.  In addition, advancements in technology now allow stakeholders to manage and operationalize data and information in previously unavailable ways.  Through the RFI, OIG seeks input from the healthcare industry and the public on a wide range of issues, including how stakeholders use OIG’s resources, as well as how to improve the value and timeliness of those resources.Continue Reading OIG Publishes Wide-Ranging Request for Information

While the government is writing checks to companies to cope with recent pandemic losses, it simultaneously updated its internal guidance for scrutinizing a company’s corporate compliance program.  Earlier this week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued to prosecutors an update to its guidance document for the “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs.”  DOJ counsel has long considered the existence and adequacy of a company’s corporate compliance program when determining whether, and to what extent, charges should be brought against that company, as well as how investigations should be resolved.

This guidance document, originally published in 2017, assists government counsel with that evaluation process.  While primarily intended for use in the criminal context, the same guidance could undoubtedly be considered during a civil investigation against a company, such as in a False Claims Act investigation.  The guidance document and its updates are excellent resources for a company to use in the company’s ongoing evaluation of its compliance program.

Purposefully tailoring the compliance program to your company.  Many DOJ updates reinforce the notion that a company should create a corporate compliance program that is tailored to that specific company, based upon its evaluation of its particular risks and anecdotes.  For instance, the update clarifies that government counsel should consider “the company’s size, industry, geographic footprint, regulatory landscape, and other factors, both internal and external to the company’s operations, that might impact its compliance program.”  And when evaluating whether the compliance program is well designed for a particular company, government counsel is directed “to understand why the company has chosen to set up the compliance program the way that it has, and why and how the company’s compliance program has evolved over time.”Continue Reading DOJ Updates Guidance for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs as a Record Number of Companies are Receiving Federal Funding