. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Medical
. . . Journal
. . . -.Houston
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June 2015
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LEGAL
AFFAIRS
By Mary M.
Bearden and
Allison Shelton,
Brown & Fortunato,
P.C.
On April 20, 2015, the
“Practical
Guidance
for
Health Care Governing
Boards
on
Compliance
Oversight” (the “Guidance”)
was published to provide
an educational resource
for the governing boards of
health care organizations with respect to
their compliance plan oversight programs.
The Guidance is a result of a first-time
collaborative effort by the Association of
Healthcare Internal Auditors (AHIA), the
American Health Lawyers Association
(AHLA), the Health Care Compliance
Association (HCCA), and the Office
of the Inspector General (OIG) of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human
Practical guidance for compliance plan
oversight programs
Services. The cross-disciplinary publication
adds to prior guidance materials published
by the OIG. This joint effort reflects
the importance of the complementary
roles of boards, internal auditors, lawyers,
and compliance officers in successful
compliance oversight programs.
The goal of the Guidance is to provide
practical tips and ideas for boards to
consider when designing compliance
oversight programs. It aims to assist boards
in assessing the capacity and effectiveness
of compliance oversight programs in the
“ever-changing regulatory landscape and
operating environment” of health care
today. The Guidance does not propose
a “one size fits all” standard but instead
provides ideas as to how organizations
of different sizes and complexities may
develop oversight programs that will fit an
organization’s specific needs.
The Guidance emphasizes the duty of a
governing board to act “in good faith in the
exercise of its oversight responsibility for its
organization.” To assist boards in fulfilling
this duty, the Guidance discusses and
provides suggestions relating to four aspects
of compliance programs, including: (1)
roles and relationships of the organization’s
audit, compliance, and legal departments;
(2) mechanisms for reporting to the board;
(3) approaches to identify