How To Mitigate Risks Through Compliance Software

To be successful, you need to recognize the challenges in front of you. This belief can be applied to countless scenarios, especially in the healthcare industry, where maintaining compliance is an ever-present challenge. Unfortunately, healthcare staff already have a lot on their plates — meaning compliance risk management can increase their workload even further.

Thankfully, advances in compliance technology have paved the way for digital solutions that can help ease this burden. But how can you mitigate risk using compliance software?

Healthcare staff who have done things the old-fashioned way for many years may be skeptical or unfamiliar with the advantages compliance programs offer. However, once implemented, they can transform how you approach risk management and mitigation in more ways than one.

Here are a few major ways healthcare organizations can manage and mitigate risks using compliance software.

What Is Risk Management in Healthcare?

Risk management is a crucial aspect of the healthcare industry. It involves a variety of complex systems, procedures, and processes, designed to minimize risks to patients. Although traditionally focused on ensuring patient safety and mitigating medical errors, risk management in healthcare has evolved to encompass a range of other factors such as cybersecurity, legal and regulatory compliance, and financial liability.

The rapid pace of technological advancement and medical science further compounds the challenges faced by healthcare organizations with respect to risk. It’s a complex area that requires careful monitoring and assessment. Efforts to enhance healthcare risk management are critical to achieving successful patient outcomes and protecting organizations from potential risks — and compliance officers are at the forefront.

What Is a Healthcare Compliance Officer?

Healthcare compliance officers carry the responsibility of ensuring organizations adhere to regulations, policies, and ethical standards. A compliance officer’s role is multifaceted, ranging from monitoring and mitigating risks to investigating breaches of conduct and designing training programs. These professionals work to prevent violations of legal statutes and safeguard patients’ safety and privacy.

A compliance officer must be knowledgeable on all regulatory requirements, have excellent communication and analytical skills, and be able to maintain an unbiased perspective.

Ultimately, compliance officials are instrumental in mitigating risks and fostering best practices in the healthcare industry. While this is a heavy burden to shoulder, cloud-based software is helping these professionals streamline their day-to-day tasks. It’s not only helping healthcare organizations avoid risk; it also enables them to provide better care to patients.

Compliance Software Features That Help To Mitigate Risk

Technology is a healthcare compliance officer’s best friend when it comes to tracking and validating compliance across the organization. Here are some of the key components of compliance software that help mitigate risk:

Easily Accessible Data

One of the main ways compliance software is able to mitigate risks is by making relevant data more accessible. If a healthcare facility wants to learn if they’re deviating from a particular policy, a staff member can quickly review incident reports to identify trends within a department to understand why the incident is happening. When your facility is able to see and manage compliance, risk avoidance becomes easier.

Accessible data also extends to reporting and audits. When your facility needs to follow up on an incident or show proof of compliance to an auditor, it’s vital to have that information readily available and on-hand. Organizations that prioritize data accessibility will find themselves better-positioned to prevent incidents because they understand the factors that contribute to them.

Up-To-Date Training

The healthcare industry is a dynamic and ever-changing field that demands facilities remain compliant to mitigate risks. Healthcare organizations themselves are also constantly subject to internal adjustments, necessitating a robust training and risk-management program.

Ensuring staff training is up-to-date often falls to the wayside, particularly if you are relying on self-directed staff training efforts. Searching for proper courses and ensuring that updates are made in response to regulatory changes can consume hours of your valuable time. Moreover, failing to update materials could mean putting your organization at risk. A learning management system (LMS) simplifies this process by automatically reviewing and updating courses, ensuring compliance and shielding your organization from risk.

Built-In Security Risk Analysis

The healthcare industry has long been a target for cybercriminals due to the sensitive nature of patient information. That’s why the HIPAA Security Rule was established: to ensure that healthcare organizations protect patient data through conducting a risk assessment. But the need for security goes beyond mere compliance. Providers who wish to receive EHR incentive payments must conduct a thorough Security Risk Analysis (SRA) annually.

A comprehensive SRA identifies areas of vulnerability and prescribes necessary cybersecurity measures. Conducting an SRA doesn’t have to be a daunting task though; you can utilize MedTrainer’s online self-assessment tool to complete the analysis. MedTrainer also offers a 15-minute training on how to conduct the analysis.

Cloud Storage for Documents

Anyone who has worked on a compliance team will tell you, the risk management process can be incredibly long and confusing. Tedious tasks — such as gathering the necessary records and collecting employee signatures — can eat away at your precious time. But even though it takes time away from other important duties, risk management must be performed to ensure patient and employee safety.

Consolidating compliance documents into a single repository not only cuts down on the time spent monitoring and managing compliance efforts; it also makes it easier to self-assess processes and practices, and improves employee training initiatives. In the event a risk is identified, compliance officers can quickly pull the necessary documentation to address it.

Automated Acknowledgments

Cloud-based compliance software enables automated acknowledgement requests and reminders, which greatly streamlines the compliance process. By automating these important steps, healthcare providers can improve their adherence to regulations and minimize the risk of penalties.

Additionally, compliance officers can benefit from software by freeing up valuable time that would otherwise be spent manually tracking acknowledgements. Ultimately, this software enables healthcare providers to remain focused on their primary goal: providing the best care possible to their patients.

Reduce Risk With Cloud-Based Compliance Software

Risk management programs can be highly beneficial for organizations, as they provide a comprehensive toolkit for compliance. By utilizing these programs, businesses can access helpful features such as risk assessments and a range of risk mitigation programs. Additionally, compliance software can offer training programs that help to educate staff on compliance policies and regulations.

MedTrainer offers healthcare compliance software for today’s healthcare organizations that includes healthcare credentialing software and a variety of other services. By partnering with MedTrainer, businesses can equip themselves with the necessary tools to maintain compliance, while growing their operations.

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