No health system wants to make headlines for compliance penalties and fines. Managing risk and meeting compliance standards to keep patients safe—and stay out of the news—is challenging and costly. In fact, to adhere to more than 600 regulatory requirements, an average-sized hospital spends $7-9 million per year on administrative activities associated with compliance. On top of it all, non-compliance can damage reputations, inflict financial penalties, and exclude violators from participation in government healthcare programs.
In the 2022 symplr Compass Survey, chief information officers from leading heath systems said financial strain is a top threat to their healthcare organizations. So an unexpected compliance penalty on top of everyday rising costs can be devastating. Given the high financial stakes and the complex regulatory environment, healthcare organizations must proactively manage healthcare compliance.
How should organizations start to transform their compliance program?
If health systems continue with siloed systems and disparate technologies for compliance, mitigating compliance risk and controlling costs are out of reach. The consequence of doing nothing can mean thousands or even millions of dollars in fines, unwanted oversight, and strain on existing compliance resources. Start with an audit to assess your current state of compliance. Your answers may quickly demonstrate a strong business case for transforming current compliance processes with automated workflows and risk assessments to safeguard your organization’s reputation and avoid penalties.
Assess your compliance stance
Do any of these challenges ring true in your current compliance program?
- We are at risk of incurring penalties related to regulatory non-compliance. YES / NO
- There are manual components of our incident reporting system(s). YES / NO
- Our compliance incidents/events are managed in separate software systems. YES / NO
- It is difficult for staff to document and follow up on incidents/events for potential resolution.
YES / NO - Different departments, teams, and locations use their own processes and procedures to manage compliance. YES / NO
- Not all policies and procedures are written down, documented, and attested to. YES / NO
- I am unable to forecast potential compliance penalties and/or don’t know leading practices to mitigate risk. YES / NO
- There is no single source of truth for compliance across the organization. YES / NO
If you answered YES to any of the above challenges, there is a business case for improvement. You can improve your compliance stance with a healthcare-specific compliance and risk solution to monitor compliance, remediate risk, and automate risk management. You will be able to know your regulatory stance at a glance and avoid reputational damage and monetary penalties. Importantly, your business case should include an anticipated return on investment (ROI).
The ROI of compliance
symplr recently partnered with Hobson & Company, a value consulting firm with over 20 years of experience, to build a custom ROI tool for this purpose. It is the result of independent validation of “sources of value” across seven symplr customers and identifies specific outcomes they achieved by leveraging symplr’s compliance and risk management solution.
The research identified these valuable benefits on average for symplr customers across two business objectives:
Streamline healthcare operations
- 50-60% reduction in time spent managing documents
- 90% reduction in time spent on reporting
- 45% reduction in time spent managing and tracking compliance issues
Mitigate risk
- 60% reduction in the probability of penalties or fines
- Avoidance of at least one reputation-damaging incident
- Avoidance of at least one annual external risk assessment
Ready to build your own business case? Read more about our research and learn how symplr customers are achieving strong ROI for managing compliance and risk.
Calculate your ROI with a few clicks
Prioritizing and investing in your healthcare compliance technology can mitigate risk and streamline healthcare operations. Building a culture of compliance with defined policies requires strong buy-in across the organization. As a result, you’ll need a defensible business case with strong ROI to gain alignment and move forward. You can build your business case with our online Compliance Value Calculator tool.
