Health Law Attorney BlogHealthcare Innovation: Compliance
By Adrienne Dresevic, Esq. of The Health Law Partners, P.C., Olivia Dresevic JD expected 2020
On June 1, 2019, Joanne Chiedi assumed the role of Acting Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) following Daniel R. Levinson’s resignation. Ms. Chiedi recently sat down with the Compliance Perspectives Podcast to speak on key issues she addressed at the 2019 Compliance Institute. This article will highlight some of Ms. Chiedi’s insight regarding how healthcare providers can maintain successful compliance and oversight considering the rapid innovative changes occurring in Healthcare.
Innovation and Technology in the world of Healthcare
Among the principal messages for providers during this unique time of disruptive innovation is the call to be bold and take action. Diligent oversight and compliance are more important than ever as great technological changes in healthcare are happening fast. Those in charge of compliance cannot oversee what they do not understand, and effective oversight requires knowing how healthcare is delivered both today and in the future. One important step to safeguard effective oversight is to ensure those in charge of compliance have access to the organization’s data.
Advice for Future Success
Agility and adaptability are the keys to successful compliance that never becomes stagnant. To keep up with rapid innovation, it’s increasingly necessary to create multidisciplinary teams to work across the organization to gain new insights into program vulnerabilities and develop solutions to those problems efficiently. To ensure potential liabilities are spotted before they become larger, more expensive problems, organizations should also engage in continuous prioritization. This includes reassessing staffing plans and priorities, if necessary. Changing times require a culture that allows for experimentation. Those in charge of compliance should never stop seeking new opportunities to improve their organization’s compliance programs and operations.
Forming Partnerships
Do not confront issues alone. Partnerships are more important than ever in this complex healthcare world. One way providers can begin to build these relationships is through getting to know all the department heads within their organizations, as well as reaching out to their organization’s partners and getting in touch with their compliance offices.
Conclusion
This article should serve as a reminder to healthcare providers and suppliers that compliance is continually changing, and it is important to ensure that compliance and oversight do not remain static as technology continues to evolve. Providers and suppliers should take a look at the current compliance mechanisms they have in place and think about implementing some of these recommendations.
For more information on compliance you can visit: https://oig.hhs.gov/compliance/
For more information on issues relating to this article, please contact Adrienne Dresevic, Esq. at (248) 996-8510 or by email at adresevic@thehlp.com.