The Office of Inspector General (OIG) believes open lines of communication between the compliance officer and provider personnel are vitally important to a successful compliance program. It believes hotlines may reduce the risk of fraud and abuse. Communication is one of the compliance officer’s most important resources. Hotlines are an important communication tool because they allow employees to report matters anonymously. Consider developing several methods for employees to report fraud or abuse—to guard against supervisors or other personnel diverting the information. You may want to solicit input from the compliance committee and employees when developing these reporting systems. Make the hotline number readily available to all employees and independent contractors, possibly with conspicuous posters in employee areas containing the hotline number. Maintain a call log with information about each call, including a summary report, whether an investigation is needed, and the results of any investigation.