OIG Unveils Updated Self-Disclosure Protocol

In 1998, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published the Self-Disclosure Protocol (“SDP”), which provides a mechanism through which health care providers may voluntarily report to the OIG potential violations of criminal, civil, or administrative law governing federal health care programs for which exclusion or civil monetary penalties (“CMPs”) are authorized. The OIG reported that, within the last 15 years, over 800 disclosures were resolved under the SDP, amounting to more than $280 million in recoveries for federal health care programs. On April 17, 2013, the OIG unveiled an updated SDP,[1] which includes various new provisions, such as limitations on the SDP’s scope with respect to its applicability to the Stark Law, a new minimum damages multiplier, minimum settlement amounts, and guidelines for the content of submissions by providers.