Health Advisory: OIG Issues New Guidance on Pharmacy Issues and Joint Ventures
5/14/2003
In the past month, the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General (OIG), which enforces the federal laws targeted at preventing fraud and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid Programs, has issued two important guidance documents that should be of interest to participants in the health care industry. The first document is the final guidance to pharmaceutical manufacturers concerning fraud and abuse issues that may arise in the provision of pharmaceutical products. The second is a special advisory bulletin that focuses on the growing number of joint ventures that are created through contract, rather than shared ownership arrangements. Both documents highlight particular practices that are of concern to the OIG.
Also covered in this issue is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' issuance of new rules on provider enrollment.
