News and Events
Methodist’s Compliance Department Is Here To Serve You
Published: Aug. 8, 2022
Welcome to the “What is Compliance?” article series, where we discuss the who, what, when, where, why and how of the Methodist Health System Compliance Department.
Compliance simply means following the rules, but following the rules isn’t always as simple as it seems.
Sometimes the rules are vague, and sometimes they’re contradictory. Some rules are broad, and some are pointed and conditional. Rules vary by state, city and industry. Rules change – sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly and sometimes by going backward.
What are you to do if you do exactly what the rule is trying to accomplish, but you don’t keep adequate records to show that you followed the rule? Were you supposed to give public notice that you would follow a rule? Is the notice you gave correct and sufficient? How many rhetorical questions before we get to the point?
Compliance means following the rules, and the Methodist Compliance Department is here to help you do that.
The Compliance Department will be releasing periodic articles to help you understand what it is that we do. In the broadest terms, the Compliance Department oversees the Compliance Program, which consists of the Compliance Plan and the Code of Conduct.
The Compliance Plan has seven core elements that are based on recommendations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG). The seven elements that help make a compliance and ethics program effective are:
- Standards, policies and procedures
- Compliance program oversight
- Training and education
- Open communication and reporting systems
- Monitoring and auditing
- Corrective action plans
- Discipline for noncompliance
We’ll take a more in-depth look at each of these areas and the recently revised Code of Conduct in future articles. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact us with any compliance concerns or questions. Reach out to Chief Compliance Officer Jen Anderson at (402) 354-4901 or jen.anderson@nmhs.org, or contact the Compliance Hotline.
Compliance Hotline
- 1-877-640-0005 (English)
- 1-800-216-1288 (Spanish)