JO - Health Care Compliance Association

Meet Lea Cobb ...continued from page 15
nal audit functions. HIPAA privacy, security,
and Transaction Code Set requirements have
all been addressed and implemented. We
are currently working on National Provider
Identifier (NPI) compliance.
JO: Does your compliance program play a
role in quality-of-care issues, and if so, how?
LC: We have a comprehensive compliance
program process that integrates compliance,
risk management, and quality. These
functions work in tandem. Quality-of-care
reporting is part of the compliance auditing
and monitoring program. Quality-of-care
issues are managed at the CCRC through the
Community Performance Improvement/Risk
Management/Safety Committee with compliance
as part of the structure.
JO: How do you go about getting
employee and staff support for your compliance
efforts?
LC: Compliance is an integral part of the
everyday work of all employees, staff, and
management members. Compliance is woven
into the everyday job duties, “Erickson Way
Values,” and responsibilities of the employees.
Management plays a key role in employee
and staff buy-in and continued compliance
support. The “Erickson Way Values” are our
organization’s approach to creating an atmosphere
of accountability for ethical employee
behavior.
JO: How do you keep education and
training interesting and effective?
LC: We are constantly looking for new
and innovative ways to conduct education
and training to keep it humorous, interesting,
and interactive. We employ a variety
of venues to reach our widespread and
diverse employee workforce. We use faceto-face
training provided at the CCRC by
the compliance liaison and at Erickson by
corporate human resources. Additionally,
we have established an Internet compliance
site specifically for staff to have access
to new or revised policies, education and
training materials, and to alert them to new
information. We send information through
published compliance articles in newsletters
or via e-mail. Compliance updates are
provided at the CCRC by the compliance
liaison and at Erickson by the compliance
department through executive leadership
team meetings, departmental meetings, and
staff meetings. The director of compliance
and policy/HIPAA privacy officer and the
assistant director of coding and compliance
also provide face-to-face education and training
by traveling to the CCRC’s. Compliance
training is also provided through the use of
Web-based training sessions. We are beginning
to embark on an interactive, comprehensive,
on-line compliance education and
training program. We use posters, keycards,
brochures, and magnets to provide awareness
training to all staff on the Code of Conduct,
PREVENT program, and Values Line reporting.
I also look to the Compliance and Ethics
committee and executive leadership team to
generate ideas for training. It is very important
to consistently evaluate the compliance
education and training program from the
view point of a staff member. This allows
us to make changes when necessary to keep
the training as interesting and interactive as
possible.
JO: What do you see as the greatest compliance
challenges for the CCRC industry in
the next three years?
LC: I see many challenges in the next
three years, including recruitment and retention
of high quality staff, escalating insurance
costs, and regulatory compliance coupled
with uncertain financial markets and increasing
consumer demand for cutting-edge aging
services.
Other challenges include: CCAC/
CARF 2 accreditation standards and compliance;
keeping current with emerging technology,
such as the electronic health record;
government initiatives related to health and
technology; and HIPAA enforcement.
Living in times of constant change, we
never truly know what to expect as there will
always be regulatory and legislative initiatives
and enforcement practices for which a
CCRC will have to be prepared.
JO: You attended the HCCA Compliance
Academy and are certified in healthcare
compliance (CHC). Why did you decide to
attend the academy and has it helped you in
your role?
LC: I decided to attend the academy due
to its reputation, industry knowledge of key
constituents, resources available, educational
and networking opportunities, and national
organizational notoriety. The CHC designation
has given me creditability among my
peers and colleagues as well as professional
recognition in the area of health care compliance.
JO: HCCA offers a number of educational
opportunities. Which most closely match
your needs?
LC: I received great value from my
attendance at the Fraud and Compliance
Conference which is conducted in conjunction
with the American Health Lawyers
Association. Additionally, I found the
Compliance and Ethics Institute and
Medicare D Compliance Institute to be most
useful. The Health Care Compliance Manual
is a must for all compliance professionals.
JO: What advice would you give to someone
who is just starting out in compliance
and setting up a program?
LC: Keep it simple, make it fun, and
know the regulations affecting the compli-
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September 2006
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