On Oct. 26, the ACC submitted comments in response to a request for information (RFI) from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding the anti-kickback statute and beneficiary inducements civil monetary penalties as published in the Federal Register earlier this year.

The ACC urges the Administration to examine regulatory and administrative burdens, particularly with respect to the fraud and abuse statutes, that hinder clinicians’ ability to provide the highest quality patient care possible under the current framework of the U.S. health care system and make it exceptionally difficult to incorporate digital health solutions and other innovative health system strategies.

The College’s comments prioritize statutory and regulatory harmony between the OIG and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; care coordination allowing clinicians, hospitals and health systems to work together to control costs for the benefit of patients; and increased cybersecurity for electronic health records and other essential systems to address significant patient safety and privacy concerns.

Specifically, the comments urged OIG to consider adding several safe harbors to the anti-kickback statute that would ensure activities permitted under the Medicare Care Coordination Improvement Act of 2017, allowing physicians to participate in alternative payment models, would be permitted under the new proposal; address the provision of certain needs that may impede a beneficiary’s ability to seek care, such as food, clothing, transportation to and from healthcare-related visits, etc.; and allow for the provision of apps and similar tools by a clinician, hospital or health system, at no cost to the patient, without violating the anti-kickback statute and civil monetary penalties, among other considerations.

Keywords: ACC Advocacy, Patient Safety, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S., Medicaid, Medicare, United States Dept. of Health and Human Services, Electronic Health Records, Computer Security, Patient Care

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