Do Healthcare Compliance Programs Prevent Healthcare Fraud and Reduce Healthcare Costs? Part III

Okay, now that you've developed your Healthcare Compliance policies and procedures, what's the next step? Great question!

After all, if you have policies and procedures, but no implementation, is the program effective? How would such an inert Healthcare Compliance program prevent healthcare fraud and reduce healthcare costs? You're right, it wouldn't.

I have provided a few recommendations regarding ways in which to conduct effective training for your Healthcare Compliance program. (I've also shared a few lessons learned along the way.)

Training Sessions: Once the foregoing are completed, it will be necessary to set a time and place for the training session(s). It is important to conduct the training in a manner most likely to capture the largest number of employees/agents for which the training is intended. Any employees/agents who do not attend the plenary training session should be required to either attend a make-up training session or provide evidence of having obtained the information contained in the training session.

Training Location: Ensure that the location of the training session is conducive to such training, and interruptions will be minimized. During one of our first compliance training sessions, the room in which we conducted the training was so hot that by the time we were finished, participants were practically stripped down to their underwear.

Sound System: Ensure that you have an adequate sound-system. Too often, speakers conclude that they do not need a sound-system. Remember, sound-systems are for the listeners, not the speakers. It is also important to avoid having individuals attending the training session sit in areas that are “dead-spots,” acoustically-speaking.

Sign-In Sheets: Provide a sign-in sheet, identifying the date on which the training session is conducted, the employee’s/agent’s printed name, and the employee’s/agent’s signature.

Pre-Test: Provide Pre-Test 1A to all employees/agents to determine the knowledge- base of the participants prior to the training.

Videotaping Training Session: Training sessions should be memorialized, preferably via video. It is recommended that the taping, irrespective of the medium, be performed by a professional. If you do not know where to obtain such a professional, it is recommended that you contact a court-reporting service for recommendations. It is difficult to convince investigators that you take your compliance training seriously when an inattentive videographer allows the camera to focus on the back of someone’s head for ten minutes and the audio includes private discussions amongst audience members.

Q&A: Conduct a Q&A session following the training. Remember the following: (a) have speakers repeat questions asked; (b) ask participants to rephrase ambiguous questions; and (c) refrain from addressing questions that are not relevant to the training session, stating that you will be happy to discuss the issue with the questioner at a convenient time following the training session.

Post-Test: Provide Post-Test 1A to all employees/agents to determine the knowledge-base of participants following the training session. This will be a good metric to assess the effectiveness of the training session.

I hope that this is beneficial. Remember, if you have additional questions, please feel free to contact me.

You may obtain additional information regarding ways in which to design an effective Healthcare Compliance program, a program that has demonstrated its effectiveness in preventing healthcare fraud and reducing healthcare costs, by going here:
http://www.HealthCareComplianceTraining.net