Healthcare providers work hard to earn a living practicing medicine. In this multi-part series, we are discussing the need for an active compliance program in order to avoid large, unnecessary fines and payouts. Training your employees can make the difference between detecting a problem early and waiting until an investigator comes knocking on your door.
Find out how to update your compliance program in this multi-part series. (To get this multi-part series delivered to your inbox CLICK HERE)
A great place to start is training all of your employees to detect and report any problems. In most cases, someone at the practice knows there is a problem but fails to report it. Employees are busy completing many tasks: greeting patients, getting billing out, handling practice management problems, among many others.
Regular compliance training reminds your employees it is an essential part of their job responsibility to detect and report problems.
What should be included in compliance training:
- You should go over the compliance program elements to remind each employee that compliance is important to the practice.
- You should have each employee sign a compliance agreement stating that they understand compliance and have been informed that reporting issues is an essential part of their job.
- You should detail how they can report problems in person and anonymously. Often, employees must report their supervisor or a doctor in the practice. They must be able to do this anonymously with a hotline or a drop box.
- Make sure your employees understand that you will investigate all issues but the employee may not be kept informed about the results of the compliance investigation since many matters are confidential.
In our next blog post, we will continue this series on How Compliance Saves Your Income. To get this income saving series delivered directly to your mail box, click here to Subscribe.
Do you need help implementing or updating your compliance plan? We can help. To contact us about your compliance plan or your other legal needs: CLICK HERE.
