When was the last time your organization received an anonymous compliance concern? Has it been so long you can’t recall? Maybe you consider yourself lucky that the organization has never received a concern on your watch, or you subscribe to the belief that “no news is good news.” When it comes to compliance, however, “no news” is just that: “no news.” We need to be careful not to fall into the trap of believing that a lack of reported compliance concerns means all is well within the organization.

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Last year, Vault Performance released the results of a survey where they commissioned over 2,000 office workers within the United States and the United Kingdom to ascertain employee experiences with workplace misconduct. According to the survey results, 75% of workers surveyed in the United States reported witnessing misconduct in the workplace; however, only 39% of them reported it. Over 60% of employees witnessing misconduct never reported their concerns. The number one reason given for not reporting misconduct was the concern that a report would not remain anonymous.

Given the significant ramifications of non-compliance within the healthcare industry, it’s extremely important for healthcare providers to identify and correct compliance issues early. If you participate in government health care programs, you know that you have an obligation to identify and return overpayments received from these programs. A compliance issue that is allowed to continue for a long period of time can have significant financial ramifications for the organization, even before penalties are assessed and legal fees incurred. It can also cause significant reputational damage to the organization and lead to employee attrition or lost productivity and low morale.

Because concern over reputational damage and fear of retaliation is a primary reason employees do not report misconduct, healthcare employers need to have a way for employees and others to report suspected misconduct or compliance issues anonymously. This will help ensure that someone who has a compliance concern reports it, giving the organization an opportunity to investigate and correct any well-founded non-compliance.

Providers sometimes express trepidation with implementing an anonymous reporting process, fearing it will result in meritless complaints or be abused by disgruntled employees or patients. However, we rarely find this to be the case. While many complaints may, on their face, not be a compliance issue or might be unfounded, even these complaints can be helpful. They can provide you with an opportunity to better understand the perceptions of those within your organization or the population you serve and where additional communication or better messaging is needed.

For example, if you are receiving a number of complaints from patients claiming they’ve been overcharged, you may ultimately determine the complaints are unfounded or do not present a compliance issue; however, these complaints may reveal that you need to do a better job of communicating with patients about expected charges or costs.

Having an anonymous reporting policy is absolutely essential to encourage employees and others to report compliance concerns and suspected misconduct.

Learn how to maximize the effectiveness of your anonymous reporting policy by listening to this week’s podcast and downloading a copy of a list of pointers for drafting an anonymous reporting policy on our resources page.