A sound, well-planned compliance program is a commitment to a level of practice that establishes a minimum standard of practice in a highly regulated environment.  A Compliance Plan is an analysis of patterns of practice and an adoption by the provider entity of policies to ensure compliance with the law and professional ethics.  The Firm can implement Compliance Plans and Audits for Health Care Providers which are consistent with The Office of Inspector General’s guidelines. The Firm believes that the existence of a Compliance Program provides evidence that the Health Care Provider has made reasonable efforts to comply with the Health Care fraud and abuse regulations. The Compliance Program demonstrates that the Provider has attempted to identify potential mistakes and has implemented a method of addressing them. It has been our professional experience that a Compliance Audit or Plan of a Provider’s practice can identify potential problems with respect to contractual relationships, medical billing patterns and medical record documentation. The Firm has created a Compliance Plan which incorporates a legal review under the applicable fraud and abuse regulations, a billing and coding review and a medical records review which analyzes patterns of practice when properly adopted by the provider entity assists in ensuring compliance with the law and professional ethics.

Compliance issues of increasing concern to health care providers today are the Administrative Simplification provisions of The Federal Health Insurance and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), which call for administrative restructuring in order to meet new privacy standards and guidelines for electronic claim submissions. Our regulatory compliance department is well-versed in all matters relating to HIPAA and offers a program designed to assist healthcare providers in attaining HIPAA compliance.

Our attorneys are well-versed in the regulatory exceptions to the Federal Anti-Kickback statute (“Safe Harbor Regulations”), the “Special Alert” Bulletins, and numerous Advisory Opinions issued by the OIG. We often structure a provider’s financial arrangements to ensure timely compliance with this regulatory scheme. HOFFMAN POLLAND & FURMAN PLLC provides legal assistance on all aspects of regulatory compliance, including:

1. Preparation of individualized compliance plans meeting federal and state laws and regulations.
2. Representation in Office of Inspector General (OIG) and regulatory investigations and health care litigation.
3. Development of corporate policy addressing issues such as: code of conduct, duties of compliance officers, employee training, reporting of noncompliance, records management, patient confidentiality, etc
4. Training and ongoing guidance on regulatory compliance policies.

We have also negotiated and implemented Corporate Integrity Agreements ("CIA's") with the Government, and work closely with several health-care consultants and accounting firms whose personnel have acted a Compliance Officers for our clients. We develop, review and maintain all Compliance Policies, Procedures, Standards of Conduct, and employee compliance handbooks for our Compliance Plan clients.