Budget [Healthcare Compliance Tips]

Increase your compliance budget.

Per SAI Global and Strategic Management “2019 Healthcare Compliance Benchmark Report,” only 29% of entities expect to increase their compliance budgets in 2019, in which this is a slight increase from 25% in 2018.

After seeing this statistic, it’s clear that though compliance budgets are increasing, they were still not a top priority in 2019, which will probably carry over into 2020.

Previously I have shared:

“The government is aware that smaller practices lack the finances to create large compliance budgets.  Therefore, the best practice is to implement an assessment to determine the greatest risk of vulnerability within your practice.  After your risk assessment, you can consider areas to apply your budget too.”

I also have said: “Would you rather pay now or later?”  And I am hoping the answer is now.

We know you may lack the resources to implement everything after a risk assessment.  But, here are a few areas you can apply your budget to:

• Compliance software and security
• Continuing education or training courses (i.e., compliance, coding, etc.).
• Compliance conferences and events

As you can see, educating yourself is a reoccurring theme on this list.  You may not know precisely how to implement a compliance program, but first, allocating money towards education is critical to have productive conversations with your team or outside consultants.

**The opinions and observations from the group/author are not a promise to exempt your practice from fines and penalties.  Research, modify, and tailor the advice to fit your specialty.