I spent the first part of this week at HCCA's Compliance Institute, and while there, I heard Inspector General Levinson suggest that OIG might be interested in performing compliance reviews on Medicare Part B providers. Levinson said OIG has been doing hospital compliance reviews for some years now, and he said he hoped "we'll transfer the benefits of our hospital compliance reviews to Part B." Hospital compliance reviews have led to $34 million in recoveries, Levinson said, and he said OIG expects to do another 24 hospital reviews this year.

Levinson also spoke about the dangers of physician-owned distributorships, which he said are "inherently suspect." OIG released a special fraud alert on PODs at the end of March, and Levinson urged providers to be very careful when assessing participation in a POD arrangement. "They are shark infested waters," Levinson said.