The Case For Compliance: Lower Costs, Increase Productivity and Improve Patient Care

Regulatory compliance is an essential part of healthcare operations… and not just because of the significant financial risks of noncompliance. A strong compliance program helps increase staff productivity and improve the quality of patient care as well.

Lower Costs

With potential violations that range from $100 to $50,000 per violation, it may not come as a surprise that healthcare fraud settlements reached over $2.5 billion in 2016.¹ A well-defined code of conduct, along with robust policies and procedures are the foundation of your compliance program, and their ultimate purpose is to protect your organization from costly risks. But it’s important to remember that policies and procedures won’t do much unless your staff knows what to do with them, so education and training are an essential part of an effective compliance program as well.

Increase Productivity

An effective compliance program helps you improve organizational productivity by avoiding time-consuming audits. Some compliance audits can’t be avoided, but in many cases, audits are triggered by a report of a compliance violation. And while your organization typically isn’t held responsible for the cost of an auditor’s time, an unexpected audit can disrupt organizational operations in other ways. Avoid unexpected audits by regularly assessing your processes and practices internally. By doing this, you can identify areas of risk before they become a problem, prioritize areas for improvement and develop action plans to mitigate risk.

Improve Patient Care

Education and training empower your staff to move through their daily activities with assurance and allow them to focus on what’s most important: their patients. Since so many organizations already operate with a high level of integrity, it’s easy to view regulatory compliance as simply an administrative burden, but a strong compliance program is the foundation of high-quality patient care. When staff are empowered to identify and self-report potential violations, they are more likely to speak up about issues of patient safety and quality of care.

What Next?

A strong compliance program mitigates costly risks, provides the framework for a more productive work environment for your staff, and leads to improved patient outcomes… So what next? The first step to building a strong compliance program is staff training and awareness, and MedBridge is here to help. Ensure compliance and feel confident in the event of an audit with our full-service compliance solution, including:

• Engaging, interactive compliance courses
• Full Learning Management System functionality
• Automatic assignment and tracking
• Customizable programs
• Robust reporting with dynamic visuals