DOJ and OIG Offer Distinct Self-Disclosure Protocols for Healthcare Entities
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has released a new corporate enforcement policy applicable to nearly all criminal cases, excluding antitrust violations. This policy aims to enhance transparency and incentivize responsible corporate behavior by outlining self-disclosure requirements for companies to qualify for declination under the DOJ's Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy. Healthcare companies, in particular, can benefit from this policy, which offers a potential declination of criminal prosecution for qualifying self-disclosures. Concurrently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) continues to offer its Health Care Fraud Self-Disclosure Protocol, which provides a separate set of criteria and benefits for disclosing healthcare fraud and other violations. The OIG protocol, originally created in 1998 and amended in 2021, focuses on entities engaged with federal healthcare programs. 
