EDITOR’S NOTE: Donna Thiel, former chief compliance officer and now director of the ProviderTrust compliance integrity division, participated in a roundtable conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG). The following is her report.
In late 2016, the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) and the OIG invited 30 providers to participate in a roundtable format to discuss various ways to measure the effectiveness of a compliance program.
Prior to the event, providers were given a set of guidelines to help prepare their thoughts and ideas. Participants were told that they would be creating a resource for healthcare providers across a wide spectrum of care. The intent was not to create a checklist or best practice standard but to give providers as many ideas as possible so they could select measures based on their organization’s specific needs.
In early January 2017, the group gathered in Washington, D.C. for a fantastic day of idea-sharing. They broke up into four groups and rotated throughout the day, sharing ideas on two compliance elements per rotation. Groups were facilitated by members of the OIG, and a scribe was assigned to each group.
Roundtable Mission
For each compliance program element, the group’s tasks were to identify what to measure and recommend how to measure. The following compliance program elements were discussed:
At the end of the day, providers had the opportunity to offer feedback on, and additional ideas about, their experiences and any other ideas they may have had after a particular rotation. All participants agreed that it was a great day of collaboration and hoped for many more roundtable events in the future.
Roundtable Output
On Monday, March 27, 2017 Inspector General Daniel Levinson proudly pre-launched the compiled results of the roundtable recommendations to the 3,000 attendees of the annual HCCA Compliance Institute in Washington, D.C. entitled, “Measuring Compliance Program Effectiveness – A Resource Guide.” The compendium is a welcomed resource to compliance officers and legal advisors, especially since it represents “the voice” of those on the front lines of the healthcare compliance industry.
Key Takeaways
As you look at the “HCCA-OIG Measuring Compliance Program Effectiveness: A Resource Guide,” read through and highlight the items you are already doing and also some new ideas to use for future monitoring. Note, however, that there are 402 metrics listed in the 55-page guidance. This is not a checklist. The OIG emphasized that none of the metrics listed are required and not all are applicable to all provider types. Instead, they are a compendium of best practice ideas for measuring effectiveness.
The report also noted, in its introduction, that “any attempt to use this as a standard or a certification is discouraged by those who worked on this project; one size truly does not fit all.”
Here are just a few highlights from each section in the guide.
It was a true honor and pleasure to join my compliance colleagues at this roundtable and to share our opinions of best practices in healthcare compliance.
One of the things I love most about this industry is that everyone shares the same goal, which is to provide quality and safe care for all. In today’s environment, we can all learn from each other and share best- practice ideas related to the many facets of compliance.
Given how many regulations affect the healthcare industry, it is exciting to see how the compendium will be used to help healthcare providers find new ways to measure compliance program effectiveness, which is a very difficult task.
There is a lot of talk lately about the need to follow orders given by a member of law enforcement. I would like to explore
EDITOR’S NOTE: AI-assisted editing tools were used only for proofreading and language refinement; all analysis, interpretation, and conclusions reflect the author’s original work. Artificial intelligence
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