Healthcare Compliance Policies: Best Practices for Management and Distribution
Purposes of Policies in Healthcare Organizations
Many healthcare organizations operate under a comprehensive set of policies and procedures that address a wide range of compliance-related issues, including physician relationships, conflicts of interest, OSHA and HIPAA Privacy and Security. These policies and procedures should be available to every employee and provider.
Specific standards set by an entity as well as the elements of an effective compliance program provided by OIG/HHS offer frameworks for roles and committees to ensure consistency and integration of compliance activities and the effectiveness of the overall compliance program.
A well-managed set of policies is critical to the well-being of any healthcare institution. Proper policies support activities by communicating expectations, establishing a culture of compliance, protecting in litigation matters, and ensuring the welfare of patients and staff.
Important purposes of policies in the healthcare setting include:
- Provide the framework for the key elements of the compliance program
- Promote and support ethical behavior among staff
- Exhibit commitment to compliance and all regulations governing the organization
Management and Distribution of Healthcare Compliance Policies
In addition to creating, communicating, and maintaining policies within a healthcare organization, it is imperative to take steps to manage and distribute the policies effectively.
- Assign Responsibility
An individual should be responsible for managing policies within the healthcare organization. Depending on the size of the entity, it may be either a full or part time position.
- Control Access
For the purposes of efficiency and privacy and security, the administrator should have full control when it comes to providing access for reading and editing policies.
- Track Policy Updates
Tracking policy changes becomes a necessity to provide accurate information to compliance questions or auditors.
First Healthcare Compliance offers several solutions that provide customizable sample Policies and Procedures. In addition, our Document Storage zone allows compliance personnel to upload, organize and distribute documents via the Training Zone for employee attestation. To learn more contact us today!
