Final rule 42 CFR Part 59 is 78 pages long. Have you read it yet? How about your team? How long will it take? And then, will you feel confident in what actions you may take? Or is there another process you’ll undertake to make sure? At youCompli, it took us just a few days to […]
Continue readingHow I Became a Confident Compliance Officer
As the sole compliance professional in my hospital, my role preceded me. When clinicians saw me rounding a corner, they seemed to avert their eyes and look at the floor. Department heads? The same. I understood why. I brought extra work: go to websites, read regulations and print things off; re-invent policies; re-evaluate codes, and […]
Continue reading74 Federal Healthcare Regulatory Changes in January 2019 Alone
Yes, 74! Are you surprised? In recent months, we’ve noticed two themes that challenge everyone managing regulatory changes: First, regulatory changes are flooding into your organization in lots of different ways, to lots of different people; daily subscriptions, hospital associations, clinical associations, law firms, etc. This can be very chaotic. A compliance officer recently joked that she […]
Continue readingHighlights from OIG’s Semi-Annual Report to Congress
Late last week, the HHS OIG made available its semi-annual report to Congress summarizing OIG activities occurring from October 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018. As one might expect, OIG continues to commit resources to enforcement-related activities and to improve its data analytics capabilities. A few of the “headlines” from an enforcement perspective include: Criminal […]
Continue readingTo Bundle Or Not To Bundle?
In August of 2017, CMS announced the cancellation of a proposed Cardiac Care Bundled Payment model as well as reversing course on a proposal to expand the Comprehensive Joint Replacement Bundled Payment model. Participation in both payment models would have been mandatory for certain providers in specified markets. In January 2018, to considerable fanfare, CMS […]
Continue reading“Compliance Magic”
Determine If Any New Regulation Matters To You, Without Reading It! During a demo, a prospect referred to a part of our system as “Compliance Magic”. I asked her what she meant…she answered; “I can decide if a regulation matters to me (or not) without having to read it; it’s like magic”, I grinned […]
Continue readingDo You Have the 4 Core Elements of an Emergency Preparedness Program?
Revised February 2023 Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Participating Providers and Suppliers Final Rule (Check out our latest update on emergency preparedness, based on the 2019 final rule.) The motto of the Boy Scouts is Be Prepared. As of 2016, that motto applies to healthcare emergency preparedness, too. Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy wreaked havoc […]
Continue readingBuilding a Common Compliance Language
Everyone needs to understand industry terminology to properly communicate. Imagine a physician referring to a patient as a “customer,” or a lawyer calling a client a “patient;” it feels odd. Even worse, it would create communication challenges. Every business organization has its own language, a specific terminology unique to the profession. Building a common organizational […]
Continue readingFaster Compliance Using “Command Signals”
You don’t want to waste time on regs that don’t matter to you! Whether it’s a new reg from the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), or your state’s Health Department, one of the 1st steps required for compliance is gauging the new regs’ relevance to your organization. […]
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