Archived Publications 5 Reasons - An Interview with Sheryl Vacca | Page 6

Innovations are Developing Faster than Regulations
“We have to be careful because what used to be
driven by a hospital-based service will likely lose
some of the payment; it is already losing some of
the payment system that we’ve relied on in the
past. Even our payers are saying that hospitals
are costing them too much money and that we
need to focus on how to deliver care differently,”
Vacca cautions.
With increased incentives for providers to go
outpatient, contracts and revenue streams are
going to look different. Vacca explains that there
will be new challenges for compliance
professionals when looking at these alternative
forms of care. “The compliance professional will
need to identify the key compliance risk that
would be related to the particular form of care
and help the organization find innovative ways to
move forward while being compliant with
whatever rules and regulations apply,” says Vacca.
She adds that although they are seeing a move
to outpatient services, some of those services
are still based off the hospital license and
applicable requirements remain.
However, the further healthcare moves away
from the hospital setting and as hospital-based
care moves towards outpatient care, the odds of
compliance are less. When the move to
freestanding care is made, there is a different
group of compliance requirements that may be
applicable. Vacca explains, “It’s not the hospital-
based requirements anymore. And maybe there
are no requirements because it’s a kind of
innovative thinking that is so new that regulatory
aspects haven’t even caught up.”
Vacca says that the question then becomes,
“How will we assure consistency in a standard
that needs to be in place when the regulations
do catch up and so that our patient will continue
to receive the best care that we can provide in
the meantime?” She emphasizes partnering with
all of the different risk aspects, including quality,
patient care provider, the legal team, audit, and
compliance. Vacca concludes, “As a collective
team, we aren’t going to be able to operate in
silos anymore. We are moving beyond the
particular regulations that we are familiar with,
and we must come together to identify the risks
and ask of each activity—is this compliant, legal,
reputational, and importantly, is it focused on
patient care?”
“As a collective team, we aren’t going to be able to operate in silos
anymore. We are moving beyond the particular regulations that we
are familiar with, and we must come together to identify the risks
and ask of each activity—is this compliant, legal, reputational, and
importantly, is it focused on patient care?”
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