Panelists Focus on Intersection between Risk Management and Corporate Compliance

In today’s heavily regulated healthcare environment with vigorous enforcement and tough penalties for violations, significant correlation exists between risk management and corporate compliance such that the two separate functions need to be tightly bound to effectively manage liability and compliance risks. Panelists Mary Malone, Esq., and Michelle Calloway of Hancock, Daniel, Johnson & Nagle, PC, Glen Allen, Virginia, speaking on October 10, 2012, at the 2012 American Society for Healthcare Risk Management conference in Washington, DC, urged healthcare risk managers to build cooperative, collaborative relationships with their organization’s corporate compliance officers. In so doing, they can work hand-in-hand to jointly develop policies and procedures, conduct joint audits of medical records, integrate resources, and communicate effectively to reduce liability risk and support regulatory compliance. A problem, such as a patient complaint that an unnecessary procedure was performed, may start out as a patient grievance and risk management problem that can snowball into a devastating compliance issue for the healthcare organization that may require disclosure, extensive audits, and the return of payment to payers.