Adam Turteltaub (adam.turteltaub@corporatecompliance.org), HCCA and SCCE Vice President of Membership Development conducted this interview with Dan Roach (daniel.roach@optum360.com) in late December 2015.
AT: Where were you working and what was your role when you first learned about HCCA?
DR: I was working as a lawyer with Allina Health System in 1997, with some responsibility for helping build its compliance program.
AT: How would you describe the state of the Compliance profession back then?
DR: It was definitely in its infancy. While compliance programs had existed in the defense industry, they were just beginning to emerge in the healthcare industry.
AT: What led you to decide to get involved in HCCA from a leadership perspective?
DR: Like many of our members, I was looking for opportunities to learn from my peers and better understand how to drive behavior in an organization. Fundamentally, compliance and ethics programs are about shaping human behavior, and I was looking for all the ideas I could find. In addition, my boss kept volunteering me to speak at conferences.
AT: You joined the HCCA Board of Directors in 2001. Your first board meeting was in April 2001 in Washington, DC. Please share with us your initial thoughts about the organization, its goals, and its aspirations back then.
DR: Even though the organization was relatively young, I was impressed with the quality of experience and leadership that the early participants had demonstrated. I was hopeful that my presence would add modestly to the compliance and ethics gene pool.
AT: The road was not always a smooth one. Law and regulations change, and events outside of compliance have an impact, too. Not long after you joined the board, we had the shock of 9/11. We’ve since endured the Great Recession. How have these events and others affected both the HCCA and compliance practices?
DR: The terrible events of 9/11 definitely tested us. We had a large conference scheduled in DC just a couple of weeks after 9/11. While hundreds of conferences had been cancelled, we made the decision to move ahead, even though we knew attendance would be impacted. It was the right thing to do and helped earn us credibility in many contexts.
Unlike many associations, we were not hit hard by the Great Recession. We managed costs well and continued to focus on delivering high-quality education programs and networking opportunities, which enabled us to continue to grow as others either pulled back or disappeared entirely.
AT: Early in HCCA’s history, the organization participated in Government-Industry Roundtables. Do you recall those meetings and what impact they may have had on HCCA and its members?
DR: The meetings helped to create a dialogue between many in government and the HCCA that continues to serve us well. Our ability to get top government leaders at our conferences and our ability to work effectively to help the profession have been enhanced by the relationship. At the same time, I believe we have created a useful forum for those in the Oversight and Enforcement community to convey the messages that they think are important.
AT: In the years since, we’ve added Academies, regional meetings, and national meetings for special interest areas like Managed Care, as well as the annual Compliance Institute. Any tips for how to get the most out of the Compliance Institute?
DR: We learn and grow as professionals incrementally. Despite more than decades in Compliance, I still come away from every meeting or conference with fresh ideas, new insights, and new ways of approaching difficult problems. I may not come away with a life-changing revelation, but I always come away with new tools for being successful. Talking to your peers, recognizing you can learn from everyone, and not being afraid to ask for help all contribute to the value proposition.
AT: In your opinion, what accounts for HCCA’s growth and success?
DR: I think the formula sounds rather easy – quality conferences, networking opportunities, and a culture of helping each other out. However, the people who have actually had to execute on these strategies deserve most of the credit – hats off to the staff and leadership of the HCCA for the great job they have done. My goal as a board member and speaker is to help others be more successful, just as there are a plethora of people who helped me succeed in my career.
AT: What key actions taken by HCCA do you think have had the greatest impact on the Compliance profession?
DR: Two things already mentioned above: our relationship with the regulatory community and the culture of sharing knowledge and ideas. On the second point, we were very fortunate to have the worlds most dedicated and talented certification advocate in the person of Debbie Troklus
AT: Let’s talk a bit about what didn’t happen. I think back to the first time I met you, which was long before I joined the association. You were speaking at an Institute of Internal Auditors conference in San Diego, as I recall. At the time, you were one of the few (if not the only) compliance officer who had managed to tie compliance to compensation. Are you surprised more organizations haven’t been able to do something similar?
DR: Perhaps a little. While linking compliance objectives materially to compensation is a great driver of behavior, it can be difficult in many organizations. Identifying the right metrics is tough, selling it to management and a board can even be tougher. However, it is slowly catching on, and I believe it will eventually become the rule rather than the exception.
AT: What other practices do you wish were more common today?
DR: What I have realized over time is that what I know is not nearly as important as how I do my job. Knowledge and expertise do not equal influence, and neither do titles. Influence comes from consistent quality performance, collaboration, and most importantly, trust. I believe that we will become even more effective as we do a better job of balancing the information component of our meetings with the strategy and influencing sessions.
AT: Let me get a bit more sunny here and ask, what do you think are some of the most surprising and positive steps we’ve taken as a profession?
DR: Collaboration and knowledge sharing are things we are very good at. Some professions tend to hoard information and ideas, while we generally do not. Also, for a profession that is under constant scrutiny, I think we are remarkably willing to recognize our mistakes and learn from them.
AT: Would you give us a few examples of some of the lighter moments you have experienced through your involvement with HCCA, at past Compliance Institutes, or other HCCA meetings and engagements?
DR: Watching our esteemed CEO react to suggestions that we create a committee or an advisory board never ceases to be both predictable and entertaining. Watching certain people on the dance floor and an unfortunate overlap with another conference or two has also added some levity. While I could go on for several pages, I will end with some of the service projects in which we have been engaged – such as rebuilding homes in the wake of hurricane Katrina.
AT: Let’s look to the future. How do you see the Compliance profession evolving over the next 20 years?
DR: I believe that the profession will continue to grow, will continue to wield more influence, and will attract more people who have made Compliance and Ethics a career choice. Many of us “old-timers” were thrown into the Compliance arena. I see more and more students choosing Compliance as their first career choice.
AT: How do you see the HCCA helping to make those changes happen?
DR: The HCCA will continue to offer top-notch educational opportunities and expand the reach of its activities by reaching out to students, board members, regulators, and operators in ways that we have not in the past. As the organization continues to grow, we will have even more resources and talent at our disposal.
AT: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview and for all your years of helping the HCCA and the entire Compliance community.
See Dan Roach speak at the HCCA’s 20th Annual Compliance Institute, April 17 – 20, 2016 in Las Vegas.