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How Do I Update My Compliance Risk Assessment?

Compliance Risk Assessments are critically important in healthcare practices. When used correctly, they can save entities from fines, problems and consequences.

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While almost everyone is familiar with a HIPAA Risk Assessment, many practices have not completed a full Compliance Risk Assessment.

A Compliance Risk Assessment is a process for healthcare entities to determine what risks exist, evaluate potential risks and focus resources to address the most significant risks.

Compliance Risk Assessments help to find blind spots, show your employees that you care about their concerns and are proactive, and reduce potential government fines and penalties. They could even help prevent a whistleblower suit.

Healthcare entities should prioritize these risk assessments, as they are now expected by the government. The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has shared its belief that periodic risk assessments are the starting point of a well-designed compliance program.

Compliance plans must be updated regularly and regularly. Your staff should be aware of and engaged with your compliance program.

So how do you perform or update your Compliance Risk Assessment?

Work with your healthcare attorney to:

identify risks;
Assess risks for potential likelihood and impact;
Create a work plan which will likely include:
- audits,
- monitoring,
- education,
- updates to policies and procedures, and
- implementation of any necessary technology measures; and
Continue monitoring compliance and compliance risks.

It is essential that your compliance plan is well-used, familiar to all staffand involve your entire office.

If a government official were to come to your practice, would all of your employees be able to comprehensively discuss your compliance plan?

If not, or if you need help with your compliance, billing, or audits, contact Rickard & Associates today!

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Are You Prepared for an Audit?

The Federal Government is constantly auditing healthcare entities. A recent Michigan settlement resulted in prison time and a hefty repayment for violations of the False Claims Act.

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If your compliance plan needs to be updated, now is the time.

You want to make sure that your practice is protected so that you are not faced with a similar situation as a vascular surgeon from Bay City, Michigan.

A vascular surgeon was sentenced to 80 months in prison for defrauding healthcare programs by submitting claims for the placement of vascular stents and thrombectomies that he did not perform. He was also ordered to pay $19.5 million in restitution and up to $43,419,000 to the government to resolve civil allegations.

If you want to avoid prison time and hefty fines and payments, you need to make sure that your compliance plan is up to date and functioning correctly.

Your compliance program should be working daily to help you detect any potential discrepancies or issues when it comes to your billing.

If you are not sure if your compliance plan is up to date, make sure to do something internal audit.

Look at a variety of records, payor mix, and providers when performing an audit of your billing.

It is also important to carefully review your policies and procedures to make sure that they reflect your actual practices.

Let your staff know that you take compliance seriously by regular training and investigating any of their concerns.

If you are not sure if your compliance program is running smoothly, enlist help.

We help our clients update their compliance plans and their policies and procedures, train their staff, audit records, and more.

If you need help, call us today.

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The post Are You Prepared for an Audit? appeared first on Rickard & Associates.

Need a Practical High School Graduation Gift?

We’ve got you covered. If you know a recent high school graduate, you should find out if they have a simple estate plan to allow their parents or guardians to make medical and financial decisions if they are incapacitated.

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With high school graduation season in full swing, it is essential to remember that at age 18, parents no longer have the right to make medical and financial decisions for their child, something should happen.

We always recommend that 18-year-olds have simple estate planning documents in place, in the event of incapacity.

If your child goes away to school and has an accident, you want to be able to speak to doctors and medical personnel regarding their care.

Unfortunately, sometimes accidents happen. It is better to be prepared and not need these documents, than to be scrambling and asking a judge for the ability to be involved in your adult child’s medical care.

What documents should an 18-year-old have in place? We typically recommend that they have:

A medical durable power of attorney,
A HIPAA release,
A financial durable power of attorney, and
A simple will.

This will make things easier, in the event your child cannot speak on their own behalf.

Having these documents at the ready can eliminate potential issues, there should be an unforeseen incident.

Also, having these fundamental documents in place is a great foundation for future estate planning.

Let us know if you need basic estate planning documents in place for your high school senior or for yourself.

As always, contact us today to help you get the right documents in place or to update your current estate plan.

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Can You Prevent a Whistleblower Lawsuit?

When a whistleblower suit is brought against a company or practice, there are usually many warnings that were ignored or not dealt with appropriately. Many times, wrongdoings are brought to light internally first and properly addressing concerns can prevent a lawsuit.

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Often, the employee who becomes the whistleblower tries to raise the issue internally before going outside the company.

There are also fears of retaliation by many whistleblowers. Fear of retaliation can lead an employee to report wrongdoing to an outside board or entity.

So how do you avoid a whistleblower issue?

While it’s impossible to ensure that you will never have a whistleblower suit on your hands, you can take steps to make sure your employees’ concerns are acknowledged.

First, make sure your employees have a variety of ways to raise their concerns, including an anonymous option.

As part of your regular compliance training, make sure your employees know all the ways to raise issues and let them know that you are want them to come forward with concerns. If your employees bring their concerns forward, it can help you improve your practice, patient care and working relationships.

Let employees know that you take concerns seriously and will fully investigate, and where necessary, remediate concerns.

When we work with practices and companies on their compliance plans, policies and procedures, or employee handbooks, we make sure to put in place robust internal reporting methods.

Stress the importance of open communication to your employees and then follow through. You can’t expect your employees to believe you, if you don’t take the time to actually listen and address concerns.

Busy practices will often have an attorney investigate and address employee concerns, to have impartiality and attorney client privilege. This also lets your employees know you take their concerns seriously, when an outsider is brought in to investigate.

Having open communication with your employees will lead to better working relationships and a better overall company.

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What You Need to Know About Licensing and Credentialing

Many of our clients have had questions or issues regarding their license or credentialing. New physicians and physicians who have been practicing for years can all encounter issues with their medical licenses. We help our clients work to get the answers and results they need.

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Depending on the issues that you may be having, there are different approaches to take in dealing with the Bureau of Professional Licensing and the Board regarding your medical license.

However, no matter what stage you are at, there are certain steps you can take to improve your interactions.

First, make sure that you have all your documents in order. When dealing with licensing, it is likely that no matter the reason, they will require proof and written records. Depending on the nature of your interaction, you may need complete records of the following:

Continuing education credits,
Community service/volunteer work,
Letters of recommendation,
Proof of various trainings related to human trafficking, opioids, etc.,
education,
and more.

Second, know the statutes that apply. Various statute will likely apply to your situation and it is important that you are familiar with the laws. The statutes will impose certain requirements.

Third, dot your i’s and cross your t’s. Make sure that you are following the required formats for all submissions. Double check that no records are missing and that all of your explanations are in order. Know what needs to be notarized, and ensure that your notary follows the required format. It may be wise to have a third party review your documents prior to submission.

Fourth, follow up. If you can find a contact, following up on your documents can ensure that you have accurately submitted all requirements and are not missing any supporting information.

Finally, know when to call the experts. When problems with your medical license arise, it is essential you take it seriously. Find a healthcare attorney who is familiar with licensing and credentialing to help you from start to finish. At Rickard & Associates, we help make the process as easy as possible for our clients and work with them every step of the way.

If you need help, let us know. Having an advocate familiar with the process can make a big difference when it comes to your license.

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Swedbank Q1 Profits Beats Expectations on Better Deposit Margins

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Swedish bank Swedbank reported first-quarter net profit above market expectations on Thursday and said higher deposit margins had boosted results, although credit impairments also rose.

The rivals of Handelsbanken, SEB and Nordea said net profit totaled 7.56 billion Swedish crowns ($733.24 million) versus a year-ago 4.48 billion, topping a mean forecast of 6.62 billion, according to analyst estimates provided by the company.

CEO Jens Henriksson said Swedbank had a strong start to the year.

“The driving factor was higher net interest income, which strengthened thanks to higher deposit margins,” he told a news conference.

Higher interest rates have meant that Swedish banks have increased margins on their loan business. The Riksbank raised interest rates to 3.5% on Wednesday, up from zero just over a year ago, and said a further hike was likely.

Swedbank, Sweden’s biggest mortgage bank, said its net interest income, which includes revenue from mortgages, rose by 77% to 11.94 billion from a year-ago 6.76 billion, above the 11.37 billion expected by analysts.

Commission income rose to 3.66 billion crowns from a year ago 3.55 billion, above the mean forecast of 3.48 billion, while the bank made a profit on financial transactions, including hedging instruments, of 916 million compared to 139 million a year earlier.

Swedbank said its credit impairments rose to 777 million crowns from 158 million a year ago, above the 386 million seen by analysts.

(Reporting by Johan Ahlander, editing by Terje Solsvik)

China accuses Washington of wanting ‘technological hegemony’ in Huawei battle – Business News

Photo: The Canadian Press

China’s government accused Washington on Tuesday of pursuing “technology hegemony” following news reports the United States might step up pressure on tech giant Huawei by blocking all access to American suppliers.

The possible move, reported by Bloomberg News, The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, would tighten restrictions imposed in 2019 that limit Huawei’s access to processor chips and other technology. The company, which makes network equipment and smartphones, was allowed to buy some less advanced components.

Huawei Technologies Ltd., China’s first global tech brand, is at the center of conflict between Washington and Beijing over technology and security. US officials say Huawei is a security risk and might facilitate Chinese spying, an accusation the company denies.

“China is seriously concerned about the reports,” said a foreign ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning. She accused Washington of “over-stretching the concept of national security and abusing state power” to suppress Chinese competitors.

“Such practices are contrary to the principles of market economy” and are “blatant technological hegemony,” Mao said.

Mao said Beijing would “defend the legitimate rights” of its companies but gave no indication of how the government might respond. Beijing has made similar declarations after past US actions against its companies but often does nothing.

The ban on sales of advanced US processor chips and music, maps and other services from Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit crippled Huawei’s smartphone business. The company sold its low-end Honor smartphone brand to revive sales by separating it from the sanctions on its corporate parent.

The Commerce Department agreed to grant export licenses to US companies to allow them to sell less-advanced chips and other technology to Huawei that was deemed not to be a security risk. That followed by complaints from suppliers would lose billions of dollars in annual sales.

The Biden administration is considering no longer granting such licenses, although no decision has been made, the news outlets reported, citing unidentified people familiar with official deliberations.

Huawei scrambled to remove US components from its network and other products and has launched new business lines serving factories, self-driving cars and other industrial customers. The company hopes those are less vulnerable to US pressure.

Huawei says its business is starting to rebound.

“In 2020, we successfully pulled ourselves out of crisis mode,” Eric Xu, one of three Huawei executives who took turns as chairman, said in a December letter to employees. “US restrictions are now our new normal, and we’re back to business as usual.”

Last year’s revenue was forecast to be slightly-changed from 2021 at 636.9 billion yuan ($91.6 billion), Xu said.

Rogers, Shaw and Quebecor extend deadline to close merger deal, again

business

The companies involved in the Rogers Communications Inc. the deal to buy Shaw Communications has extended the deadline to complete the transaction until the middle of February

Companies now say they hope to finalize massive telecom transactions by Feb 17th

The Canadian Press · Posted: Jan 30, 2023 9:05 AM EST | Last Updated: January 30

Rogers is trying to buy Shaw in what would be, if it’s completed, the biggest merger in Canadian telecom history. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)

The companies involved in the Rogers Communications Inc. deal to buy Shaw Communications has extended the deadline to complete the transaction.

Rogers, Shaw, the Shaw Family Living Trust and Quebecor Inc. say they have extended the deadline to Feb. 17 from Tuesday.

If approved, the deal will see Rogers acquire Shaw, while Quebecor’s Videotron subsidiary will acquire Shaw’s Freedom Mobile wireless business.

The agreement is still awaiting approval by Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne who must sign off on the transfer of wireless spectrum licenses from Shaw to Videotron.

The companies say they are continuing to work with the government to secure the final approval needed to close the transactions.

The deal cleared a key hurdle last week after the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed a Competition Bureau request to overturn approval of the agreement by the Competition Tribunal.

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