Elements of a Compliance Plan

An Effective Compliance Plan

An effective compliance plan should include the following elements: 

• A general statement of conduct that promotes a clear commitment to compliance. 
• Appointment of a trustworthy compliance officer with the authority to enforce standards. 
• Effective training and education programs for all professional and support personnel. 
• An auditing and monitoring process. 
• Internal investigation and enforcement through publicized disciplinary guidelines and actions. 
• A process to respond to identified offenses and apply corrective action initiatives. 
• Specific and effective lines of communication between the compliance officer and professional and support personnel. 

While these requirements may seem daunting, they are relatively simple to implement. For example, the physician or office manager can serve as the compliance officer so a full-time employee need not be dedicated to that. Similarly, discussion of compliance-related issues can occur as a segment of regular staff meetings. 

Educational Objectives

Here are basic steps for setting up a educational objectives:

• Determine who needs what training in billing and coding. 
• Budget the money to pay for such education. 
• Determine the type of education service that best suits your needs, whether it is seminars, in-service training, self-study, or other programs. 
• Determine when the education is needed and how much each person should receive. 
• Reward the staff for achieving their goals.