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Call us at 1-833-252-2737 (TTY 711)

8AM-8PM Monday-Friday
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The Role of Compliance in Providing Quality Care

This blog post is guest written by Karen Eastmond, Chief Compliance Officer at CenterLight Health System.


What is Compliance?


Federal and State regulations require healthcare organizations such as Centerlight Health System to have Compliance Programs. These programs provide the framework which helps us to:

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Promptly respond to compliance issues as they are raised

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Investigate
potential compliance problems as they are identified in the course of self- evaluations and audits, and

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Correct any identified problems
promptly and thoroughly to reduce the potential for recurrence, and ensure ongoing compliance with regulatory requirements.

Our compliance program is designed to:

Prevent, Detect, & Correct

Compliance provides our organization with the tools necessary to meet legal, ethical and professional standards to support quality care. The framework described above protects CenterLight from regulatory sanctions and litigation. More importantly, it also protects our participants by assuring the provision of quality care.

 

How do we PREVENT potential Issues?

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Provide Training on key program requirements

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Develop Policies and procedures to guide staff on important processes to take to comply with regulatory requirements and standard protocols

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Respond promptly to participants, staff, providers when issues arise

 

DETECTing potential Issues

  • We provide a Reporting mechanism allows staff, participants or providers to report an issue confidentially in good faith

  • We conduct Self-assessments and independent assessments to confirm appropriate mechanisms are in place 

  • Our program provides an Assurance of  non-retaliation for good faith participation in the Compliance Program

 

CORRECTing any identified issues

  • By responding in a timely manner by conducting reasonable inquiry into reports of any misconduct

  • Putting Corrective actions in place in response to the potential violation. For example, repayment of over-payments, improved internal procedures, disciplinary actions against responsible employees.



What is quality care?

SAFE, TIMELY, EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE AND PARTICIPANT-CENTERED CARE

Our goal is to provide all the care and services our participants need as determined by the Interdisciplinary Team. The Compliance program ensures policies and procedures are in place to guide the team in doing their work.


DOING THE RIGHT THINGS IN THE RIGHT WAY AT THE RIGHT TIME.

Our participants and their caregivers depend on us to help keep them healthy and living safely in their homes and communities for as long as possible. We strive to have a strong Compliance program and place emphasis on building a culture of integrity, where our staff would be able to respond to our participants’ needs. This is made possible when everyone knows their roles, that there is a clear understanding of the organization’s expectations, and that the staff has the support they need to perform their tasks.


CARE AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED BY WELL-TRAINED AND QUALIFIED STAFF FREE FROM SANCTIONS AND EXCLUSIONS.

CenterLight integrates compliance practices in our hiring process. Staff go through background checks before they can become part of the team, in order to ensure participants will not be receiving care from individuals who have previously committed fraudulent activities. In addition, continuous training and education help employees gain necessary knowledge and remain abreast of current information, policies and procedures, regulations, processes and tools that help in providing high quality care.


AN ENVIRONMENT FREE FROM DISCRIMINATION AND RETALIATION

Participants, employees and all stakeholders are entitled to a safe environment where care is received or provided, without any fear of retaliation if they report any issues or non-compliant behavior.

CenterLight provides services to all participants regardless of race, cultural heritage, national origin, race, age, gender, disability source of payment, and all other perceived differences. The same applies to all employees, who are entitled to work in an organization where they are treated with respect.

QUALITY MEASURES BASED ON PLAN, DO, CHECK, & ACT

Compliance interfaces with the Quality team to help promote the monitoring of participants’ health, including helping to ensure all staff provide services when they are requested; and does everything necessary, under the full extent of their responsibilities and in a compliant and compassionate manner, to help prevent issues from escalating. This monitoring helps to keep track of important measures such as hospitalization, response rates to service delivery requests, timely assessments, and others that directly contribute to quality care.

H3329_2019_BLOGCompliance Approved MMDDYYYY
Pending CMS and DOH approval
Last updated November 8, 2019

Icons on this blog are free for commercial use or purchased under basic license, unless otherwise indicated below.
  • Alarm clock icon is free for commercial use. Artist: Mariano Tardon
  • Magnifying glass icon used under the Creative Commons License. Artist: Iconika
  • Training icon used under the Creative Commons License. Artist: MD Badsha Meah
  • Icon for "available 24 hours" used under the Creative Commons License. Artist: Eucalyp Studio
 

About the Writer

Karen Eastmond is Chief Compliance Officer at CenterLight and has worked here for 8 years.

Karen

If you have questions, please call us at 1-877-212-8877, Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. TTY users should call 711. You may also request a callback from one of our representatives by completing the form below: