At the beginning of each fiscal year, the OIG issues a Work Plan, which describes the specific audits and evaluations that it has underway or plans to initiate in the year ahead. It also provides focus areas for investigative enforcement and compliance activities. In conjunction with stakeholders and other oversight entities, the Work Plan identifies the issues of greatest priority and with the greatest potential impact on HHS programs or beneficiaries. The Work Plan reviews various subjects, primary objectives and criteria related to each subject review. Among some of the focus areas detailed in the 2011 Work Plan are:
• Review of Medicare claims to determine trends in the number of hospital readmission rates
• Review of Medicare inpatient capital payments, which reimburse a hospital’s expenditures for assets such as equipment and facilities
• Review of payments for brachytherapy to determine whether the payments are in compliance with Medicare requirements
• Review of the safety and quality of intensity-modulated radiation therapy and image-guided radiation therapy
• Exclusions of individuals and entities from participating in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs for program-related convictions, patient abuse or other actions that post a risk to beneficiaries or programs
The Work Plan also provides for each review its internal identification code, the year in which one or more report is expected to be issued as a result of the review and indicates whether the work was in progress at the start of the fiscal year or will be started during the year.
The 2011 Work Plan can be downloaded a single document (pdf) or can be viewed in individual sections. OIG email list subscribers will automatically be notified of new reports posted to the OIG’s website.
Read the OIG’s news release about the General Work Plan for Fiscal Year 2011.
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