A Billing Compliance Program The importance of an effective compliance program for teaching, research, and billing areas that interacts with federal, state, and local agencies continues to be in the forefront of all business transactions. The federal government has stated that its mission to combat health care fraud and abuse is second only to its efforts to fight violent and drug-related crimes. The federal government, in its effort to enforce compliance with health care regulations, has issued model compliance plans for laboratories, managed care programs, durable medical equipment companies, hospitals, and medical billing vendors. With each new model plan published, the government has added or revised directives and components of model programs. While there is no model plan for physician practices, the government has indicated that this may be coming. In the interim, the model plan for billing vendors holds the closest billing compliance requirements for physicians. Return to Contents | Return to Billing Compliance