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Post By: Adam Turteltaub
On Tuesday, April 20th at the 2021 Compliance Institute the HCCA will be offering the session Work Smarter Not Harder: Effective Annual Work & Audit Plan Development Strategies. Joining us for this podcast are two of the speakers from that session: Kristin L. Meador (LinkedIn), Director Compliance Audit & Operations Organization Integrity & Compliance, and Brenda Manning (LinkedIn), Privacy Director and Privacy Officer, both at the Carilion Clinic.
When designing a workplan, they recommend taking a fluid approach that recognizes that risks change and plans must as well. Start by gathering information from internal and external sources, look at what’s on the radar of CMS and OCR and where your organization is having a pattern of incidents. Internal Audit can be a particularly valuable ally, especially if they have surveyed leadership and have identified the risks on management’s mind.
In planning, one thing to avoid is setting goals too high and putting too much on the team’s plate. It’s important to ensure that there are sufficient manhours available when things come up, as they inevitably do. Also, leave time for new and emerging risks. We have all seen how those can and have arisen over the last year.
The key, they have found, is to have a SMART plan: Specific Measurable Achievable, Relevant and Time-based.
When it comes to auditing, they remind us that you can’t audit everything. Instead, turn to the risk assessment and focus on the key areas. Also be prepared to adjust your thinking. Some areas may prove to have less risk than initially anticipated, others to have more.
When it’s time to remediate, they make an interesting suggestion on training: Instead of testing right away, give time for the education to sink it, and then audit once again.
Listen in to learn more, and then plan on attending their session at the 2021 Compliance Institute.