Healthcare Compliance Readiness: Do What’s Doable 

Look at what you can do, rather than just what you want, for maximum results  

Let’s be 100% real – you have all the ideas for maintaining your compliance program of what you want to do in 2025. You are going to put together a risk assessment and gap analysis, look at all of your data, assess patient needs with incident reports, and report all of it to corporate on a monthly basis. No one has ever done it like you plan to do it in 2025. This is the year, you say, that you will dominate.  

But the year is underway, and you are buried…right where you were last year.  

Any discussion or plan about getting the best results that doesn’t take into account whether or not you can actually execute on it is an exercise in fantasy. At the end of the day, a less ambitious plan that you can actually do will obliterate a plan that is half-hearted. Consistent execution bests dreaming every time.  

The Key Principle in Successful Compliance Strategy 

What can you do? And what is realistic? That’s the key. Sure, you think you can manage multiple deliverables, but it’s a matter of time until more gets thrown on your plate – investigations, plans that need to get done, results, etc. In the end, trying to do it all will only sabotage yourself.

Here’s the thing – most of us get paid for 8-hour workdays, 40-hour workweeks. Most of us work 10-12 hours a day, six days a week. You run in the red too long, you burn out the engine. You get sick. You need to rest, then you can’t do anything.  

You have to figure out what you can do and then do that. When it comes to your compliance strategy, find the lowest-hanging fruit and hammer out the most consistent concepts. For me those are data review, incident reports, participating in leadership meetings, and then the day to day. It’s not sexy, but it’s realistic. Accept the reality, structure the plan right, allow for the inevitable disruptions, and maximize what you can get done. Then stick to your plan for the long haul. Show up every day and aim for steady progress.  

The perfect plan is the one you can follow. Aim for what’s realistic, not what’s ideal. 

Now, back to work. 

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John R. Nocero, Ph.D., and Andrea L. Bordonaro, MAT, blog on LinkedIn as “The Q-Kids,” discussing everything related to clinical research education, inspiration, and professional connection.