Health care fraud is perhaps the fastest growing area of health care law. This area is likely to expand even more in the future as the government looks for ways to finance health care costs through savings created by increased fraud enforcement.
Providers are facing increased compliance obligations. Recently enacted health care reform legislation requires health care providers to adopt formal compliance programs for the first time. Compliance programs were previously not mandatory for most providers. Additionally, health care reform has provided the government with additional investigatory and regulatory authorities which necessitate all providers to enhance their compliance activities.
Our health care attorneys routinely advise our clients on compliance matters in addition to the creation and ongoing monitoring of compliance programs to provide education to staff on the various aspects of the law relating to compliance programs. Our Focus Team stays abreast of changes in the law that affect compliance issues and counsels our clients on ways to proactively meet the new challenges that these new legal requirements present. Our dedication to maintaining top of mind knowledge is illustrated by our blogs, newsletters, and presentations covering timely topics on issues at the industry’s forefront. Links to the blogs are as follows:
We assist clients in the ongoing auditing and monitoring of compliance, and provide counsel in enforcing compliance plans. When serious violations are found, we assist our clients in self-disclosure. Although we prefer to guide our clients proactively in preventive compliance activities, we can also lead clients through governmental investigations and negotiation of agreements with governmental agencies to defer prosecution or civil monetary penalty cases.
Because of the varied background of our Health Care Focus Team, we are also able to integrate compliance recommendations in other areas such as employment matters, corporate law, and other legal areas that affect the overall atmosphere of compliance throughout all aspects of the organizational structure.
The creation of our Focus Team is a further reflection of Ruder Ware’s commitment to providing excellent client service.