With healthcare waste taking up to a third of all healthcare costs, reducing waste and fraud remain primary goals of the Office of the Inspector General, the head of the agency said Monday.
Healthcare expenditures total up to $3 trillion a year, and waste takes up 20 to 30% of that, the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson said, according to the Bureau of National Affairs.
Speaking at Health Care Compliance Association conference, Levinson said that audits and technology are allowing the OIG to be more efficient in targeting those guilty of abuse. The healthcare delivery system is also moving to coordinated care models and to “value-based payments,” Levinson said.
That’s no surprise to long-term care operators, who have been told that value-based and bundled payments are likely the future of government reimbursement. Levinson’s remarks also echoed a recent OIG report highlighting fraud and waste reduction efforts for Medicare and Medicaid.
