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Post By: Adam Turteltaub
As we move ever forward in compliance, sometimes it’s good to stop, look back, and understand the history of compliance programs.
Seth Whitelaw, President and CEO of Whitelaw Compliance Group knows the roots of compliance programs well. He covers them in this podcast an in the chapter “Healthcare Compliance Programs: From Murky Beginnings to Established Expectation” in the new HCCA Complete Healthcare Compliance Manual.
In our conversation, we start at the beginning for compliance with the birth of the Defense Industry Initiative (DII), which was formed in the wake of the procurement scandals of the 1980s. Today’s commonplace tools such as codes of conducts and helplines can all trace their lineage back to the DII.
Compliance has evolved considerably over the years, and yet resistance remains. As Seth points out some resist because compliance is perceived as being too expensive to do well. Others resist because they think they are compliant and ethical.
Anyone in the profession knows that even the best companies still face challenges sooner or later. So, too, does the government.
Through the years the government has helped make that point and strengthened the case for investing in compliance. The Sentencing Guidelines laid out an outline for compliance that does not have to be expensive to be effective. The Office of Inspector General at Health and Human Services has fleshed out the Guidelines for healthcare compliance programs, giving much needed direction for this industry. The evaluation criteria from the US Department of Justice has pushed compliance teams to ask fundamental questions of compliance programs and to see if they truly work.
Looking to the future, provocatively Seth sees two potential trends. First is the shift of compliance to a more independent function, potentially one that is outside of the company. The second will be increased used of data, combined with Artificial Intelligence, to automate many of the manual compliance tasks.
Listen in to learn more about where compliance was, where it is now, and where it may be going. And be sure to check out the new Complete Healthcare Compliance Manual.