Compliance     

Spokane Mental Health’s (SMH) Mission and Values Statement, Philosophy of Care and Management Principles guide all of its clinical and business activities. These statements reflect good sense, ethical behavior, and commitment to quality of care.

In addition, SMH is strongly committed to ensuring compliance with all applicable laws, rules, regulations and policies with which we conduct our daily business activities. SMH’s compliance program establishes a framework for adherence to all relevant legal requirements; a mechanism for preventing, identifying and reporting any breach of those legal requirements; and is intended to further our day-to-day commitment that the operations of SMH will comply with established legal and ethical standards.

The Compliance Program at SMH incorporates these statements and other appropriate statements and policies, and supplements them with respect to compliance issues. The purpose of SMH’s Compliance Plan and the Compliance Program is to integrate SMH's ethical commitment to do the right thing for the right reason into the day-to-day operational activities of the organization. A Compliance Committee exists, which is responsible for oversight of implementation of SMH’s compliance efforts.

To further its commitment to compliance and to protect its employees, SMH includes the following key features in their Compliance Plan:

1.  Designation of  members of the SMH Board of Directors and employees responsible for overseeing and directing efforts to enhance compliance;

2.  Incorporation of standards,  policies and procedures that guide SMH personnel and others involved in the provision of  clinical services, including compliance with standards in the following areas:

• Clinical standards
• Contractual obligations
• Licensure
• Human Resources
• Quality Assurance
• HIPAA and other privacy, confidentiality and security compliance
• Fiscal, audit and tax related obligations
• Billing and documentation requirement;

 

3.  Identification of all legal issues that may apply to business relationships;

4.  Coordinated education and training of clinical, administrative and support staff concerning applicable compliance related requirements and SMH policies;

5.  Mechanism for employees to raise questions and receive appropriate guidance concerning compliance issues;

6.  Regular reviews to assess compliance, to identify issues requiring further related education and training, and to identify potential problems;

7.  Process for reporting possible compliance issues and for such reports to be fully and independently evaluated;

8.  Corrective action plans to address any identified compliance problems; and

9.  Regular reviews and adjustments to the overall compliance effort to ensure all practices reflect current requirements.