he FTC chairman, Andrew Ferguson, has instructed the FTC staff to create a special health care task force intended to better protect patients, healthcare workers, and taxpayers. The FTC said, in a statement, that the task force will create a coordinated, competitive, and innovative approach to how the agency regulates health care organizations.
In a memorandum, Chairman Ferguson directed the FTC’s Bureaus of Competition, Consumer Protection, and Economics, as well as the Office of Policy Planning and Office of Technology, to form the health care task force.
According to Ferguson, the task force will help the agency to “share knowledge, resources, third-party sources, market intelligence, case leads, and relationships with other agencies and stakeholders.”
The Health Care Task Force will:
- Lead targeted enforcement and advocacy initiatives focused on key priorities;
- Devise coordinated agency-wide strategies on investigations;
- Take a proactive and strategic approach to identifying amicus and statement of interest opportunities; and
- Identify emerging issues and new priority areas for enforcement and advocacy.
The task force will also seek to expand its membership to include other agencies and law enforcement partners, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice. 