Build Knowledge With Healthcare Compliance Courses

Julie Horibe, BSN, RN, CPN

Healthcare professionals never stop learning. Surgical procedures, regulations, medications, and insurance change at the drop of a hat, with compliance teams required to keep pace. This means prioritizing healthcare compliance courses to stay within the more than 600 regulatory requirements.

While overarching regulations apply broadly to healthcare, such as those related to patient privacy (HIPAA, for example), specific rules and standards can vary depending on the type of healthcare specialty or practice. For instance, the compliance requirements for a general practitioner may differ from those of a specialist like a cardiologist or a psychiatrist due to the nature of the services provided and the associated risks.

This blog will share how healthcare compliance courses aren’t one-size-fits-all and why organizations should look for a comprehensive, curated library of educational offerings to maximize training time and cover all the compliance bases.

Healthcare Compliance Is Non-Negotiable

Remember ditching an early-morning economics class in college? No big deal because you knew someone would share notes or give you the lowdown on that day’s quiz. There are no makeup tests in healthcare compliance. One error can cost healthcare organizations millions of dollars in fines and blemish professional careers.

Healthcare compliance entails adhering to laws, regulations, and ethical standards governing the industry, ensuring patient safety, data privacy, and the integrity of medical practices. It is vital for legal operation, high-quality care, and patient and community trust.

Non-compliance occurs when a patient or healthcare provider fails to stay within guidelines. Failure to report such non-compliance can lead to various consequences, determined by the severity and nature of the breach, and relevant laws and regulations.

Healthcare compliance courses empower employees with the information and skills to meet regulatory requirements and company guidelines. More importantly, ongoing compliance education ensures staff deliver the highest quality patient care and minimizes incidents. Courses also can assist in obtaining healthcare compliance certification from several associations.

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Use this worksheet to design an effective compliance training program.

What To Look For In Healthcare Compliance Courses

Laws, regulations, and industry standards are in constant flux. It’s vital to frequently train, re-train, and refresh compliance for healthcare employees. Healthcare compliance courses aren’t created equal, so there are specific features to look for in the training and education library:

  • Curated Content: The best compliance course libraries offer consistently updated options to meet regulatory and accreditation standards.
  • Continuing Education: It is also a considerable benefit to clinicians when healthcare organizations offer CME (continuing medical education) or CE (continuing education) credits at no cost. These courses are required to maintain licensure and can often be very expensive. It’s even possible to offer courses that meet regulatory requirements and qualify for CE. Look for libraries that provide CE courses accepted by state boards and nationally recognized organizations, including:
  • Diverse Course Blend: Choose classes created by instructional designers and subject matter experts versed in evidence-based course creation. Provide required and often hard-to-find CE courses for licensed employees.
  • Customization: Don’t assign the same training to all employees. Regulatory agencies require different training based on the healthcare worker’s role, so you should also assign training by role and care setting.
  • Meeting Multiple Standards: Compliance training courses that meet multiple standards are a win-win for organizations and employees. For example, choose a disaster preparedness course that meets the OSHA and CMS emergency preparedness standards instead of requiring employees to take two separate classes.
  • Go Digital: Digital platforms enhance compliance training through cloud-based access, mobile learning, and automatically updated courses. Compliance training administrators can significantly improve efficiency using automated course completion reminders, scheduled reporting, and streamlined new hire onboarding with just one click.

Offer Employees The Best  Healthcare Compliance Courses

MedTrainer Learning supports training for hospitals, clinics, urgent care, home health, long-term care, physician offices, and more. Our library contains nearly 1,000 courses that satisfy HIPAA, HRSA, OSHA, and accredited organizations’ requirements.

MedTrainer’s policy experts continually update courses explicitly created for organizations like yours. Our modern learning management system offers automated reminders, one-click course assignments, and customizable reporting to ensure regulatory and accreditation compliance. By relying on healthcare compliance training and education through MedTrainer, employers can ensure the safety of their employees while avoiding costly fines and penalties — it’s that simple.

Talk to a MedTrainer expert for more information about MedTrainer Learning.