The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics and the Healthcare Compliance Association designated Nov. 5-11, 2023, as Corporate Compliance and Ethics Week. This a great time to spotlight Ballad Health’s Compliance Program and ongoing compliance efforts.
Code of Ethics
Ballad Health is committed to acting with integrity and ethical behavior at all times. To outline some of the most important points of this commitment, a Code of Ethics was developed and approved by the Ballad Health Board. The Code of Ethics calls on employees to “display a superior level of professionalism and integrity while engaged in the organization’s business.”
The Code of Ethics can be found on the Ballad Health intranet site and in Policy Manager.
Who’s who in Compliance?
As part of the Corporate Compliance program, Ballad Health has a chief compliance officer who oversees the compliance program and a HIPAA compliance officer who supports the HIPAA compliance initiatives across Ballad Health.
The Corporate Compliance team has a variety of expertise and includes an RN, certified coders, certified HIPAA privacy and security specialist, and other subject matter experts in healthcare rules and regulations.
To assist with our compliance efforts across the organization, facility compliance coordinators (FCCs) have been named at each facility. The FCCs communicate regularly with the compliance team, participate in developing and deploying the compliance initiatives, and actively participate on compliance committees. A list of the FCCs is posted on the Corporate Compliance SharePoint site.
Team member responsibilities with the Corporate Compliance program
- Abide by the Code of Ethics, policies, procedures, laws and regulations.
- Do what is right the first time!
- Use your best judgement — when in doubt, seek advice… Ask!
- Promptly report noncompliance.
- Patient Health Information (PHI) is about the patient but PHI belongs to the organization.
- Social media and PHI do not go together.
- Be alert to your surroundings.
- Know who can hear what you are saying.
Report a concern/ask a question
Resources are available to report concerns or ask questions:
- Supervisor, manager, department leader or executive leader
- Chief compliance officer
- Facility compliance coordinator
- Corporate Compliance Department
- COPA Compliance Office
- HIPAA compliance officer
- Human resources
- Legal services
- Ethics consultant
- Patient/guest feedback system
- Direct line
- Patient Safety/Patient-Employee Occurrence Reporting System
ALERTLINE (Compliance Hotline) 800-535-9057 — Toll-free line available 24 hours, 7 days a week, to communicate concerns or ask questions regarding ethics, compliance or legal practices. Caller may remain anonymous.
Silence is not always golden: See something, say something.
