Become Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC)

The Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) serves compliance professionals throughout the healthcare field. Our members include compliance officers and staff from a wide range of organizations, including hospitals, research facilities, clinics and technology service providers. HCCA is a member-based, non-profit organization.

If you work in healthcare compliance, you may want to consider becoming certified in Healthcare Compliance. More than 6,000 people actively hold at least one of the following compliance and ethics professional certifications, including an international certification for individuals who work outside the United States or those who have international affiliates.

Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC)
Certified in Healthcare Research Compliance (CHRC)
Certified in Healthcare Privacy Compliance (CHPC)
Certified in Healthcare Compliance Fellowship (CHC-F)
Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP)
Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional-International (CCEP-I)
Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional Fellowship (CCEP-F)

You can also attend the HCCA Managed Care Compliance Conference coming up next week in AZ:
February 9–11, 2014 | Scottsdale, AZ
The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa

Learn more here.

Executive Health Resources (administrative medicine)

If you're trying tired of practicing clinical medicine, how about a career switch to administrative medicine? Consider this as a blend between medical management and business management. After all, I think we all recognize that health care is a business. You won't find any residencies or fellowships that focus on the specialty of "Administrative Medicine."

Executive Health Resources (EHR) is a company that provides different types of services, including:

• Medicare and Medicaid Clinical Compliance Management
- Concurrent Admission Review and Certification (Inpatient vs. Observation Status)
- Surgical/Procedural Setting Review and Certification
• Medicare and Medicaid Denials Review & Appeal Management
- QIO, MAC/FI and RAC Denials Management
• Concurrent Commercial Payor Denials Management
• Retrospective Commercial Payor Denials Management
• Length of Stay Management
• ER Admissions & Transfer Center Mgmt.

The acronym "EHR" is widely used to refer to electronic health records, so don't get that confused with this company. Here's a bit of history regarding this EHR (from their website):

Founded in 1997, EHR, The Physician Advisor Company™, is nationally recognized as the leading provider of real-time, point of care, expert Physician Medical Management Solutions that improve hospital revenue integrity and maintain the highest level of quality of care and regulatory compliance. EHR's expert physicians, the EHR Physician Advisors, provide hospitals and health systems with an outsourced operational, technological, and clinical resource to achieve the hospital’s goal of effectively managing clinical care while maintaining sound financial performance.

They appear to be hiring for a Physician Advisor. What are the qualifications? M.D. or D.O. with 3+ years of post-residency inpatient clinical practice preferred. Medical licensure mandatory; Board Certification preferred. To learn more, visit: http://www.ehrdocs.com

Joining Government with Industry to Discuss Health Issues

What happens when you combine government with industry to talk about health issues related to quality of care, compliance, cost, and partnerships? You end up with roundtable reports published by the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA). They have some recent roundtable reports where industry representatives discussed some important quality and compliance issues with the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG).

The most recent HCCA/OIG roundtable report is titled:

A Report on the HHS Office of Inspector General and Health Care Compliance Association Roundtable on Hospital Board of Directors’ Oversight of Quality of Care
Driving for Quality in Acute Care: A Board of Directors Dashboard

Past HCCA/OIG roundtable reports include:

A Report on the Office of Inspector General and Health Care Compliance Association Roundtable on Long-Term Care Board of Directors’ Oversight of Quality of Care
December 6, 2007

A Summary of the Government-Industry Roundtable on the
Role of Governance in Compliance Programs
June 16, 2004, Office of Inspector General

HCCA/OIG Rountable Report
Building a Partnership for Effective Compliance
July, 2001

HCCA/OIG Physician Roundtable Report
Building a Partnership for Effective Compliance
July, 2000

CIA Survey
August 2001

Center for Communication Compliance (CCC)

Have you heard of the Center for Communication Compliance (CCC)? The CCC now offers certification programs for professionals working in either healthcare advertising companies or in promotional medical education companies. Please note, this is NOT something for medical education companies that focus on certified CME/CE activities. Promotional medical education is entirely different from certified CME.

New 2009 PhRMA code will be effective at the beginning of 2009. Gone are the days of pharma pens, trinkets, notepads, and all those freebies. I wonder if the prices of Viagra pens will go up on eBay.