The Benefits of a Compliance Program

In addition to identifying internal weaknesses and serving to prevent problems with the government, a corporate compliance plan also offers several other potential benefits:

• It demonstrates to the organization's employees and to the community the organization's commitment to being an honest and responsible healthcare provider.
• It provides a more accurate view of employee and contractor behavior relating to fraud and abuse.
• It identifies and prevents criminal and unethical conduct.
• It improves the quality of patient care.
• It serves as a source of information on healthcare statutes, regulations and other program directives related to fraud, abuse and related issues.
• It encourages employees to report potential problems.
• It develops procedures that allow the prompt, thorough investigation of alleged misconduct by employees, independent contractors, physicians, other healthcare professionals and consultants.
• It initiates immediate and appropriate corrective action.

Your Roadmap to the Future

A compliance program serves as a roadmap for future action. In order to avoid overwhelming your employees, we keep the structure simple and easy to understand. Essentially, this structure consists of:

1. Assessing compliance risks
2. Designing the basic elements
3. Implementing the program
4. Monitoring the effectiveness of the program

We offer complete compliance packages or other compliance services, as you need them:

1. Internal Controls. At PPS, we believe internal controls are key to any compliance program. We will evaluate existing internal controls, find your organization's weak spots and recommend ways to strengthen those areas.
2. Reporting Mechanisms. PPS will create and operate an 800 number that employees or contractors can use to anonymously report alleged violations, thereby protecting them from retaliation. PPS will also develop promotional posters, wallet cards and other tools to publicize your hotline. We'll log all calls, and then it's up to you to either follow up on the complaints yourself or let our experienced compliance staff follow up on them.
3. Investigations. Veteran agents on the PPS team have the expertise investigate any allegations that come through the hotline or the compliance office. PPS has designed its own investigative processes to help you attack and resolve the potential violations uncovered by other features of your compliance program.
4. Employee Training and Education. PPS will make sure your employees understand your company's commitment to complying with all laws, regulations, company policies and ethical requirements applicable to the conduct of its business. We will also assess the need for additional training and education, develop specialized mini-compliance units, administer quizzes to guarantee employee comprehension and record and document attendance, all of which contribute to the effectiveness of any compliance program.
5. Internal Audit Procedures. PPS will develop and coordinate internal audit procedures to monitor and detect misconduct or non-compliance. Should misconduct or noncompliance become evident, we will recommend a solution and see to it that the resolution is implemented.

Our experienced team of auditors and consultants will put you through a reasonable facsimile of a government investigation to see how your program stacks up.