Work Plan

The Office of Inspector General's (OIG) work planning process is dynamic and adjustments are made throughout the year to meet priorities and to anticipate and respond to emerging issues with the resources available. In order to enhance transparency around OIG's continuous work planning efforts, OIG will update its Work Plan website monthly. For more information about OIG's Work Plan, how we plan our work, and how we update the work plan, please see below.

The Work Plan

The OIG Work Plan sets forth various projects including OIG audits and evaluations that are underway or planned to be addressed during the fiscal year and beyond by OIG's Office of Audit Services and Office of Evaluation and Inspections. Projects listed in the Work Plan span the Department and include the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), public health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), and human resources agencies such as Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Administration on Community Living (ACL). OIG also plans work related to issues that cut across departmental programs, including State and local governments' use of Federal funds, as well as the functional areas of the Office of the Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS). Some Work Plan items reflect work that is statutorily required.

How and Where We Operate

OIG operates by providing independent and objective oversight that promotes economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the programs and operations of HHS. OIG's program integrity and oversight activities adhere to professional standards established by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Inspector General community. OIG carries out its mission to protect the integrity of HHS programs and the health and welfare of the people served by those programs through a nationwide network of audits, investigations, and evaluations, as well as outreach, compliance, and educational activities.

How We Plan Our Work

We assess relative risks in HHS programs and operations to identify those areas most in need of attention and, accordingly, to set priorities for the sequence and proportion of resources to be allocated. Audits and evaluations may be cancelled based on OIG staff availability, changes in the environment, legislation that substantially affects the issue, or similar recent studies that provided definitive results. Reports are cancelled only after senior staff have reviewed and approved the cancellation. If you have additional questions please contact OIG Communications Office at (202) 619-0088. In evaluating potential projects to undertake, we consider a number of factors, including:

• mandatory requirements for OIG reviews, as set forth in laws, regulations, or other directives;
• requests made or concerns raised by Congress, HHS management, or the Office of Management and Budget;
• top management and performance challenges facing HHS;
• work performed by other oversight organizations (e.g., GAO);
• management's actions to implement OIG recommendations from previous reviews; and
• potential for positive impact.

In addition to working on projects that often result in audits, reviews, and reports, OIG's work portfolio includes a number of legal and investigative activities. Click on the links below for more information about OIG's legal and investigative efforts:

• Investigating Fraud, Waste and Abuse
• Facilitating Compliance in the Health Care Industry
• Excluding Bad Actors from Participation in Federal Health Care Programs

Updates to the Work Plan

OIG updates this dynamic, web-based Work Plan monthly to ensure that it more closely aligns with the work planning process. The monthly update includes the addition of newly initiated Work Plan items, which can be found on the Recently Added Items page. Beginning in January 2020, completed Work Plan items will remain in the active Work Plan for one month, after which they will be moved into the Archive. Recently completed reports can be found on OIG's What's New page. This web-based Work Plan will evolve as OIG continues to pursue complete, accurate, and timely public updates regarding our planned, ongoing, and published work.

If you have questions about our Work Plan, please contact us at public.affairs@oig.hhs.gov.