title: A call for balancing of agency sentinel priorities.
abstract: Currently, a plethora of enforcement initiatives are directed at the healthcare industry. This Article suggests that budget and time allocations for issuing regulations and guidelines to interpret the law in this area have been disproportionately set when compared to the budget and time allocations set to support these enforcement initiatives. As a result, HCFA and OIG have been seriously delinquent in providing the industry with needed regulatory guidance and workable instructions. The use of enforcement initiatives in lieu of formal rulemaking to regulate the industry accords little respect to the legitimate healthcare providers who constitute the vast majority of the industry. This Article calls for a reexamination of enforcement agencies' priorities to provide regulatory guidance through formal rulemaking, rather than through use of coercive enforcement initiatives.
authors.affiliation: Vinson & Elkins L.L.P., Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Eiland
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014487:Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.; D004282:Documentation; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000191:economics; D005161:Facility Regulation and Control / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005607:Fraud / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000517:prevention & control; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D019981:Health Care Sector / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006292:Health Priorities; D006801:Humans; D007344:Insurance Claim Reporting / Q000145:classification; D016365:Liability, Legal; D006278:Medicare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000191:economics; D018584:Physician Self-Referral / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D014481:United States; D014483:United States Dept. of Health and Human Services