Home Health & Hospice Week

Many home care providers have good intentions, but fall into common pitfalls when crafting and enforcing their compliance plans. Avoid the most frequent taboos with this advice from legal experts.

Taking the time to craft an excellent plan won't do you any good unless you actually implement it in your organization. "Having a plan and not implementing it is in many cases worse than not having a plan at all," cautions attorney Ross Lanzafame with Harter Secrest & Emery.

Failure to implement and follow a program is the most common compliance plan mistake that attorney Julie Mitchell with Copeland Cook Taylor & Bush sees.

"Many agencies drafted a plan years ago, but then have not really thought about it or looked at it since," attorney Robert Markette Jr. with Gilliland & Markette tells Eli. "Compliance requires more than simply a plan on your shelf -- it is an ongoing effort to build a corporate culture."

"A compliance program is only as good as the effort the provider puts into the program," Mitchell reminds providers.

Providers also should avoid limiting compliance plans to COP-based issues only, counsels attorney Liz Pearson with Pearson & Bernard in Covington, Ky. "There is so much more," she says. "Especially in the area of clinical compliance ... and financial issues on billing."

Failing to get management and the board of directors on board is another common misstep, Markette observes. "The board of directors has a responsibility related to compliance as well," he says.

Beware: You should carefully craft the hierarchy governing your compliance officer's reports to the board, Markette advises. Plans often fail "to give the compliance officer unfettered access to the board. The compliance officer should report directly to the board, not through someone else."

Why? "Having the compliance officer report through another individual can be harmful, especially if the individual through whom the CO reports is the source of the fraud and abuse," Markette cautions (see related story on CO-board reporting in Eli's HCW, Vol. XIX, No. 22, p. 173).