As Founder and CEO of SM, Mr. Kusserow sets the strategic vision, direction, and guiding principles for the organization. He continuously communicates SM's vision and mission to clients, employees, stakeholders, business partners, media, and others. Mr. Kusserow specializes in strategic planning, problem solving and the support of decision making in the changing regulatory environment of the health care industry. Among his areas of special expertise are fraud and abuse abatement strategies, Safe Harbor Regulations, Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance, corporate compliance programs, physician recruitment, joint venture arrangements, fair market value determinations, asset valuations, regulatory and compliance problems, evaluation studies, contract review and proposals, vulnerability assessments, internal control reviews, financial analyses, due diligence reviews, ethics programs and training, as well as health care reform issues. Mr. Kusserow brought to the Firm over 27 years experience working with the Federal government. He previously taught Government at the College level. He was appointed by both President Reagan and Bush as Inspector General (IG) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and served in that capacity from 1981-1992. As Inspector General, he had oversight of the 250 programs and $650 billion in annual outlays for DHHS. He was responsible for all investigations and audits by or on behalf of the programs and sanction authority for Medicare, Medicaid, and maternal/child health programs. He promulgated the enforcement regulations for those programs, including the highly publicized "Safe Harbor Rules." His responsibilities included being the Internal/External Audit Director and Evaluator for the Department and its programs. He carried out his duties with a staff of 1,600 auditors, program analysts and criminal investigators in 68 field offices nationwide. In the last year of his tenure as IG, his office realized over $6.8 billion in fines, savings, recoveries and restitution to the taxpayers and programs, along with more than 1,500 criminal and 3,000 administrative prosecutions. Mr. Kusserow was a member of the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) for eleven years and acted as Vice Chair for three years. He served on the President's Council for Management Improvement (PCMI) for six years, and three years on the Chief Financial Officer's Council. He was a member of the Attorney General's Economic Crime Council and was appointed by President Bush as a member of the National Advisory Commission on Law Enforcement. Before his appointment to Inspector General, Mr. Kusserow was a Special Agent/Supervisor for the FBI. In this capacity he coordinated and supervised the seven squads constituting the Organized Crime Program in Chicago, and served as a specialist in program fraud and corruption investigations. Mr. Kusserow has published dozens of journal articles on a variety of subjects relating to his experience. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and events and is often called upon for media interviews on federal policy issues. He is frequently asked to testify before federal and state legislatures and court proceedings as an expert witness on fraud and abuse issues in the public and corporate environment. He is author several books, including Management Principles for Asset Protection (1985); Corporate Compliance Policies and Procedures: Guide to Assessment and Development (2000; Corporate Compliance Education & Training Programs: A Manual and Guide (2001); and Sarbanes-Oxley: Best Practices for Private and Nonprofit Health Care Entities (2003).