From Hometown Health Centers’ Ethics and Compliance Officer, Paul Jesep, JD, MPS, MA
Hometown Health Centers, a federal qualified health center (FQHC), rang in the start of National Compliance and Ethics Week, with its monthly Compliance Newsletter on Monday announcing pizza parties at its two locations in upstate New York to celebrate the week’s theme. The parties will be hosted by the CEO and Ethics and Compliance Officer. The CEO’s participation underscores the importance he and the Board of Directors places on nurturing an ethical and compliant culture. Compliance items (stress toy and fabric lens/screen wipes) will be distributed at each of its two centers.
A new campaign will be unveiled on Wednesday – the HIPAA Hippo Team of Daisy, Tarzan, and Pickles – Hometown Health’s new mascots. The stress toy given out on Wednesday will be a squeezable hippo with the inscription “HIPAA Hippo” on them. There are also posters of hippos that will be posted. The hippos will be used as an ongoing campaign to highlight various elements of HIPAA compliance. Other posters include those issued by HCCA and table top tents distributed throughout both facilities. A Department driven competition has been released. The winning Department with the best answers to three questions wins breakfast. The competition encourages individual Departments to work together and discuss issues. A short, six month Compliance Survey will be released on Thursday and all results will be shared with staff and the Board of Directors.