HR Training Can Save Your Practice in the New Year
As we prepare for 2016, I remind our clients to think about annual HR
and compliance training for all practice employees. Not surprisingly,
clients often complain that it’s unnecessary because “nothing has
changed” or employees still remember their training from last year. In
my experience, employees forget most of their training (almost
immediately) and those who do remember are complacent about applying
their knowledge or are unable to practically apply training to real-life
situations. For example, last year, just weeks after training a
client’s practice, the following occurred:
A nurse in the practice (“Sue”) complained she had been sexually
harassed by a male supervisor nurse (“Tim”). Sue and Tim are
immediately put on different schedules so they could no longer interact
and statements were taken from both parties (which tell opposite
stories). There is no video evidence and no direct witness to the
events, although statements are taken from other staff members.
Sue
appears at work the next day apparently distressed and under the
influence. Another nurse “friend” (let’s call her "Jane") provides
prescription medication to calm Sue and drives her to the hospital.
Later, Jane is “so concerned” about Sue’s condition that she accesses
the hospital’s EHR system (to which the practice is connected) to check
on Sue’s status.
Sue calls the practice manager the next morning
to inform him that she considers herself on family and medical leave
(FMLA) and further insists the practice should have to pay for her leave
(due to her complaints) since she has no accrued paid time off (PTO)
left. The practice’s policy does not call for any paid FMLA leave (if
Sue was to qualify).
This may seem like a crazy scenario, but it’s
really not that surprising at all! What is unfortunate is that every
one of the employees in the above scenario had been completely trained
numerous times on the practice’s policies and yet various violations
still occurred.
First, with regard to the alleged sexual
harassment, there could be no conclusions made after the investigation
was complete. The results of the investigation were still distressing
since numerous witnesses, in addition to Sue and Tim, admitted there was
a pattern of lewd, vulgar and inappropriate discussions going on
throughout the workday and numerous employees complained (during the
investigation) that they had asked Sue, who seemed to be the main
source, to cease such behavior. It appeared that various staff and
physicians were aware and participated in such sexual discussions, which
clearly violated the practice’s sexual harassment policy. Specific
scenarios during training had covered the exact violations that occurred
and yet no employee recognized there was a violation of the policy. To
address the matter, the practice issued warnings to all involved and
hired an expert to bring in more training, which will now be repeated
twice annually. Every employee will acknowledge and sign a new policy
as well.
Another issue in the scenario that occurred was Jane’s
violation of HIPAA by accessing another employee’s EHR at the hospital.
She also went against practice policy by prescribing medications to an
employee of the practice (who already appeared impaired). This was not
Jane’s first HIPAA violation and per practice policy, she was
terminated. Action is still being considered on the prescription issue
and Sue’s appearance at work under the influence.
Finally, like
other practices, this client has a policy for FMLA and paid time off.
Our advice is that the practice should always try to follow its policies
consistently and without exception. When a practice opts to reach a
unique arrangement with an employee (such as letting them dip into
future PTO), this should be documented. Certainly, a practice should
never pay an employee who has made threats against the practice without
talking to counsel, as such payment could be deemed an admission of
wrongdoing.
No matter how much training a practice provides,
there are always going to be violations of a practice’s policies that
occur. The expense and hassle of dealing with the repercussion of such
event is far greater than scheduling and/or paying for annual training.
If you think your staff remembers everything they have been trained on
in the past — try asking a few random questions and see whether you are
surprised by the results!
By Ericka L. Adler from http://www.physicianspractice.com
For more information on this and other healthcare compliance topics related to HIPAA, OSHA, Medicare and HR, simply email your questions to support@hcsiinc.com,
visit our website at http://www.hcsiinc.com or post a question on our LinkedIn group at: http://bit.ly/1FWmtq6
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