IG Guidelines on Individual Physicians and Small Practices

Individual physicians and those in small group practices are urged to begin implementing internal audit procedures for “high risk” billing operations. This is one of the recommendations included in the “voluntary” compliance guidelines issued in draft form by the Office of the Inspector General (IG) at the Department of Health and Human Services. The IG has published similar programs for hospitals, nursing homes, and other provider groups. IG compliance programs are voluntary; a physician does not have to adopt one. A spokesperson for the IG says that providers with effective compliance programs are better assured of meeting rules and regulations for doing business with government health-care programs. By the way, the IG will not define how many physicians make a “small group.” The implication is clear: No practice is too big to be small.