Compliance

The regulations established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) present significant challenges for health care payers when it comes to creating compliant customer communications. Payers not meeting requirements face steep financial penalties, but automating these communications will help organizations ensure regulatory compliance.

Having introduced the special rules federal courts apply when evaluating the legality of privately-negotiated FLSA settlements, we now focus on the permissible scope of the release clause in these agreements, with the aim of assisting practitioners in drafting agreements that will receive prompt court approval and secure dismissal with prejudice of their underlying litigation.

The DOJ has recently hired compliance counsel who will help the department determine which companies and individuals to prosecute, distinguishing between entities that are serious about compliance from those whose commitment exists only on paper. Assistant AG Caldwell has since remarked on the expectations of companies’ compliance programs. Take note!

It’s absolutely critical that the Chief Compliance Officer and the Board of Directors work together to achieve a culture of ethics and compliance. With the Board’s backing, a CCO’s influence is far greater. Establishing that relationship, however, may be a daunting proposition. Michael Volkov outlines five steps to build this key bond.

FLSA litigation has dominated federal court dockets for more than a decade, but little attention has been paid to the agreements used to resolve such litigation. Unique policy considerations mean special rules apply. In today's post, the first installment of this three-part series, we explain these rules and the rationale underlying them.

Chief Compliance Officers need to be both leaders and managers. Long-term planning must be in the CCO’s wheelhouse, but a CCO is at his most effective when he’s an inspirational leader who’s also able to effectively manage the compliance process. Where do you stand? Do your staff look to your leadership and echo back what they see, acting with integrity...

IT and legal often don’t agree on who holds accountability and authority for data archiving. Many legal and compliance teams feel responsible for this function, but their data-related objectives differ from those of IT, which exists in part to support the business with its information needs. For the sake of the bottom line, though, organizations must find a way to...

Europe’s high court has struck down the longstanding Safe Harbor Framework, alleging that the U.S. government’s actions in accessing data via Facebook and transferred through email invalidated the agreement. Attorneys Thomas Monson and Kyle Petersen, with Salt Lake City-based Kirton McConkie, explain the consequences of noncompliance with the new EU data privacy rules.

Taking a page from pharma CIAs, the OIG has recently required that lab company Millennium Health hire a compliance expert. The drug testing provider came under fire for multiple years of violations of the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute; relying on the insights of an expert should better equip the Millennium Board to ensure compliance going forward.

With 2016 right around the corner and the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) reporting requirements in effect, it’s important for small business owners to understand their role. Many employers still need clarification on how exactly the ACA impacts their business, including what part of the law applies to them, how they must comply and any potential penalties for noncompliance.

Managers’ C&E duties are generally one of the first topics covered in a code of conduct, but the discussion shouldn’t end at the program’s introduction. Managers’ C&E duties must be reinforced continually through communications, training and evaluations. Do your managers have a handle on their compliance- and ethics-related duties?

There are a host of rules and restrictions around what can -- and more to the point, can't -- be asked when interviewing candidates. Questions about ethnicity, religion, disability, marriage status and parenthood are off-limits. Trying to get at any of that information in a round-about way is no safer. Better to stick to inquiries directly related to the job.