Hey Everyone – Josie here, making my first blog appearance to let you know about this month's Free Monthly Telecall,  coming up next week!

Wednesday,  July 22nd 4:00–5:00 PM EST

Shannon will be joined by insurance expert Mark Fredricksen, Vice President of Peterson, McAnnaly & Tabor Insurance, Co., home to the only EAGALA Equine Liability Insurance Program.

Click here to register!

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Mark D. Fredricksen has held the distinction of being a Certified Insurance Counselor since 1986. The CIC is a designation that represents a commitment to continuous enhancement of one’s knowledge and service. CIC is nationally recognized as a symbol of professional excellence and leadership in the insurance industry.

As an insurance counselor, Mark can act as a third-party consultant to assist in the overview of your insurance programs, giving you an insight into the forms and cost effectiveness of your insurance program. Recommending forms, coverages, and risk management methods to help maintain control over your insurance portfolio.

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Don't worry if you can't make the time – just register now and an email of the recording will be sent to you after the call has been transcoded!!

Click here to see more calls like this that Shannon has held in the past. And you can visit this page to see more upcoming events at Horse Sense Business Sense.

And, as always, please contact me if you have any questions – JosieM@HorseSenseOTC.com or (828) 683-7304, ext. 113.

Take Care!

Josie

Greetings!

In this “episode” of compliance I am going to address other compliance issues.  Do you know what you have in your filing cabinets?  If you get a visit from someone saying they are an investigator are you prepared to have that person (or persons) start at one corner of your office and not stop until they are at the far corner of your barn?

HIPAA was fun, but let’s get into what you need to have “on deck” for the other “players” in the compliance game.  Before I generate the list, I want to remind you that your are open to inspections from the federal government, state government, granting agencies and private sector parties that have an investment in your business (ex: insurance companies).

Okay, so get ready to hit the print button on this and start hunting to see if you are compliant.  Here’s the list of what you are responsible for:

• Certificates of Insurance(s)
• Records on all financial transactions
• W-2’s, I-9’s, and 1099 forms
• Payroll records for anyone and everyone
• Tax returns and records on what you have paid (SS, unemployment, sales tax, Etc.)
• Worker’s Comp records
• Policies and Procedures
• Personnel Files: resumes, evaluations, rate of pay, start date, criminal background checks, copies of driver’s licenses and SS numbers.  This list goes on, and feel free to contact me.

• Conflict of Interest policy and statement
• Health Insurance Records
• Subcontract Agreements
• Grant Agreements
• Articles of Incorporation
• Fiscal accounting policies

 Okay, I’ll stop...and yes there is more.  Don’t panic, take a breath and pause.  This list is doable. If you think you don’t have it together, I bet you have 75% of it.  But do you know where it is?  Is it readily accessible and is it efficiently compiled?

Some of you may be wondering,  “What happens if I don’t have this stuff together and I get audited?”  Depends on what agency is auditing you and what mood the auditor is in.  Consequences can range from slap on the wrist and a warning all the way up to hefty fines, jail time, loss of license(s) or certificates, and closure of your business.

The area of compliance, I think, is one of the easiest things for you to keep up with and probably the number one thing blown off or overlooked by programs.  It may prove costly to you if you don’t take the time to make sure all your ducks are in a row.

I have one more entry on compliance and then we’ll move on to less scary and more fun administrative stuff.  Please don’t hesitate to contact us here at Horse Sense if you want or need help with any of this.

‘Til Next Time!

Lisa
Practice Administrator

So greetings and thank you for joining me in this blog.  As the Practice Administrator at HSOTC, I am responsible for making sure the office runs without a hitch and our files (client and internal documents) meet compliance standards.  This is to say that everything reflects thorough and accurate documentation within the organization.  Compliance means that your business and its records are meeting rules and standards.  These rules and standards are typically established by agencies that fall into one of four regulatory and/or funding sources:  federal, state, local or private.

Can you think of one agency that you are responsible to regarding compliance?

There are multiple answers that I will share, but I will tell you as an organization that specializes in mental health, the first agency that comes to mind is the Department of Health and Human Services.  More specifically HIPAA.  For the remainder of this blog, I’ll share with you some information on HIPAA.

HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.  This was enacted in 1996 by Congress.  Many of the issues surrounding the development of this act involved the insurance industry and management of records as health care started moving in to the electronic era.  However, as it was written it included health plans, health care clearing houses and health care providers.  Key phrase for us here is health care providers.

The main ways of being in compliance with HIPAA are insuring the privacy, confidentiality and security of client records.  Every client you see for therapy must be given a privacy and confidentiality notice for your practice.  There are two parts to this.  One is the privacy and confidentiality notice that the client keeps, and the second part is a form that the client must sign stating that he/she received this notice.  Once signed it must be placed in the client’s chart.

Regarding security of records, records should be secured in a lockable fireproof cabinet followed by two more layers of security.  Basically this means there must be three levels of security in place.  The first could be the front door of your business (I’m assuming you lock your business every day), the second could be a locked office door where the locked filing cabinet resides.  Again…three levels of security.  Do not leave records out on a desk if no one is around.

The other way to insure compliance is to make sure all communication is protected.  This includes insuring that the platform by which you communicate is secure:  phones, computers, e-mails, etc.  Office phones should not be wireless, e-mails should only use client initials (no use of SS#, DOB, or full names).  Noise in the office and the chance of hearing private dialogue should be managed with “white noise”.  Finally, when using cell phones, as with wireless phones, don't disclose client names or any identifiable information.

For more HIPAA info please visit www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa

I look forward to the upcoming discussion and having you think more about compliance.  Here is a list of other agencies that you may be responsible to where compliance is concerned:

Regards!

Lisa Wheeler, MS Ed, PA-C
Practice Administrator
Horse Sense of the Carolinas, Inc.