Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
Check Out These Additional Opioid Epidemic Help Sites
Tip: Make opioid prescribing compliance a priority. Even if you’re not a Medicare Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) provider, chances are that your practice or organization still cares for beneficiaries with opioid use disorder (OUD). You may want to bookmark these useful federal links that offer clinical and compliance advice as well as grant opportunities. HHS: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has an opioid epidemic website with guidance for both providers and patients. Highlights for clinicians include prescribing and dosage insight, treatment tools, and community grants. Visit the HHS online guidance at www.hhs.gov/opioids/. SAMHSA: From state networks to rural technical assistance to clinical tools, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) supports practitioners on the front lines fighting the opioid epidemic with several training resources. See the various offerings at www.samhsa.gov/practitioner-training. OIG: Opioid fraud continues to be a major focus area for the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) and has resulted in some of the agency’s biggest enforcement actions and takedowns. Plus, pharmaceutical-related fraud is a top persistent fraud threat, and kickbacks are one of the ways the feds identify this type of fraudulent behavior, indicated Jack Geren, Jr., OIG special agent and certified fraud specialist (CFS) at the recent 2021 HEALTHCON session “Emerging OIG Healthcare Fraud Trends.” Not only does OIG have an online resource with examples of recent criminal activity and Medicare exclusions due to opioid fraud, but the national watchdog also updated its extensive list of opioid-related OIG studies. Review OIG’s “Combating the Opioid Epidemic” resources at https://oig.hhs.gov/reports-and-publications/featured-topics/opioids/ and peruse the latest studies, which includes reports, audits, toolkits, and evaluations, at https://oig.hhs.gov/reports-and-publications/featured-topics/opioids/OIG-Opioid-Related-Studies-Breakdown.pdf. CDC: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers a plethora of advice on opioid overdose with prevention and treatment tips for providers. Find the tools and guidance at www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/index.html. 
Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
- Medicare Provider Enrollment:
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