Accepting Federal Program Dollars? Exclusion List Screening is a Must!
It could be a costly mistake for your organization to not screen against exclusions lists, especially if you're receiving federal dollars! Not only is there a risk of potentially paying thousands of dollars in penalties, but with the increased liability under the False Claims Act, the government could suspend or revoke your participation status in federal programs. The government could also demand to be reimbursed the money back that was paid while an excluded individual or entity was working with your organization. The thousands of dollars of penalties could add up quickly!
Your organization is responsible for not employing or contracting with any excluded individual or entity, whether in a physician practice, a clinic or in any other capacity or setting. If you participate in Medicare, Medicaid or any other federal health care programs all employees, vendors, and/or subcontractors are required to be checked against exclusion lists. Federal healthcare programs may reimburse for items or services furnished by organizations who participate in these types of programs. Failure to adhere to the responsibilities of avoiding working with excluded individuals or entities could result in numerous, and often costly penalties.
For instance, in 2018 the Office of Inspector General (OIG) had a relatively busy year in by excluding over 2,700 individuals or entities. The writing is already on the wall: 2019 will be just as busy!
Healthcare Compliance Pros believes that the stance of "we didn't know" or "we thought we did" is not enough. Screening is a must, and we are happy to provide tools to help our clients fulfill these requirements.
Our OIG Exclusion List serviceis a tool that ensures your organization is screening all employees, vendors, and subcontractors against the OIG's List of Excluded Individuals and Entities (LEIE) prior to hiring or contracting and monthly thereafter. Additionally, we have a service that can be added to ensure you are screening the System for Award Management (SAM) in addition to the OIG Exclusion List in order to get a complete picture and search all available federal datasets of excluded, sanctioned and debarred persons or companies.
Contact us today for more information about these services by phone at 855-427-0427 or by email: [email protected].