CMS, OIG Reps Address Attendees at ACLA Annual Meeting

At the American Clinical Laboratory Association annual meeting in Washington, D.C. March 23, representatives of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) provided insight on current challenges facing laboratories. Carol Blackford, Director, Hospital and Ambulatory Policy Group of CMS reported on current implementation of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) and mentioned the agency has received requests for an extension of the March 31 reporting deadline under PAMA. She was unable to say, however, whether a delay in that deadline would happen.

Senior Counsel Karen Glassman of the U.S. Department of Human Services OIG discussed recent enforcement efforts and noted the collaborative nature of enforcement, with federal agencies cross referring cases and findings of their reports and investigations. While reviewing recent settlements and enforcement cases in the laboratory sector and the compliance issues at the heart of those cases, she emphasized the OIG’s focus on individual accountability. In response to a question about the future of individual responsibility under the Yates memo now that Sally Yates is no longer deputy attorney general, Glassman responded that she couldn’t speak for the DOJ (the agency that released the Yates memo) but that the Yates memo “only reiterated what [the OIG’s] focus has been for a long time.” She also indicated that focus on holding individuals responsible was likely to continue. Marketing arrangements and kickbacks, genetic testing scams, and medical necessity issues were among the latest fraud trends she discussed.