The Foundation of Effective Compliance

Compliance officers have a lot to juggle. Incident management, internal auditing and monitoring, and enforcing standards, are just a few of the things you need to master. Plus, it seems like new guidelines are emerging from every corner.

Wouldn't it be nice to have one, handy reference guide for it all?

Now there is! Compliance expert CJ Wolf, M.D., helped us create the ultimate guide for compliance. This special edition Compliance ‘how to’ guide, The Ultimate Guide to Effective Compliance, covers a range of the most important topics.

What’s included in the guide? Everything you need to create and maintain an effective compliance program.

Implementing Policies and Procedures: Policies, standards, and procedures prevent ambiguity and demonstrate a good faith effort to achieve compliance. Through staff awareness, standards and procedures reduce the prospect of fraudulent activity by establishing tighter internal controls to counter potential risks. For smaller practices, a more informal approach may be appropriate according to the OIG model guidance. Written policies and procedures are the first step in creating an effective compliance program.

Designating a Compliance Officer and Committee: An Effective Compliance Program is One with a Successful Day-to-Day Manager. That’s why it’s so important that they hired you, an awesome Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), with years of industry expertise. But, your organization’s executive management and board of directors can’t leave all of the compliance up to you.

Conducting Effective Training and Education: When it comes to compliance programs, training is key. Training is the most effective when learning conditions are ideal. So, let’s talk about how people learn and ways we can optimize training by understanding the different types of education.

Developing Effective Lines of Communication Simplifying Incident Management: Healthcare organizations should cultivate open lines of communication and insist on a non-retaliation policy encouraging employees to participate in policing the organization and report non-compliance activities without fear of reprisal. Compliance is a group effort, requiring buy-in and vigilance from every member of your organization. Effective communication starts with a culture that values ethics and doing the right thing. To help create such a culture, implement policies and training.

Conducting Internal Monitoring and Auditing: Periodic audits are essential for maintaining compliance. Conducting internal audits allows you to assess the effectiveness of your compliance protocols, educational efforts, and corrective actions.

Enforcing Standards via Disciplinary Guidelines: Employees should understand that all incidents will be investigated and the consequences if they behave in a non-compliant manner. As a condition of employment, specify that any individual who violates the law, organizational policies, or guidelines described in the Code of Conduct and Compliance Manual—including the duty to report suspected violations—are subject to disciplinary action, including immediate termination. Additionally, adherence to compliance and ethical standards should be a part of job performance evaluation criteria for all personnel.

Responding to Offenses and Undertaking Action: When an incident is discovered or reported, it’s incredibly important that you investigate immediately and document your entire process. Documentation should be thorough, to demonstrate your commitment to take compliance seriously. And, should your organization ever be called out for noncompliance, your documentation could potentially show that you have an effective compliance program.

Dozens of checklists, tips, tricks, and more!

Get your free copy of this special edition Compliance guide, The Ultimate Guide to Effective Compliance, to learn in-depth, 'how-to' compliance tips covering everything you need to master compliance.