On May 19, 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General, released an announcement on a new training series geared towards American Indian and Alaska Native communities that will highlight compliance, fraud, waste and abuse through health care. Specifically, this series aims to protect patients and discuss topics such as the opioid epidemic and challenges of delivering care through the Indian Health Service (IHS).
IHS health care facility employees and other Tribally operated facility employees involved with HHS funded programs should attend this series to learn more about best practices related to compliance issues related to your area. In addition to the trainings, you will also receive a certificate of completion.
These are just a few examples of the potential avenues through which to ensure proper IHS facility, Tribal health clinic and urban Indian organization (I/T/U) billing and federal health program integrity through proactive compliance, education, outreach, and troubleshooting, as opposed to post-hoc punishment or sanctioning. Additional Tribal consultation is necessary in order to fully develop these and other program reforms. The NIHB stands ready to work with the OIG and CMS on designing and implementing these changes moving forward.
The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) has provided comments on compliance relative to American Indian and Alaska Native health care facilities which can be accessed here.
For more information on the Office of the Inspector General and resources for American Indians and Alaska Natives, click here.
To access the training click here.