There are many challenges faced by a dental practice. Acquiring and retaining patients and keeping the team motivated are just some of them. Dental regulatory compliance can be a topic of negligible interest and a practice might not dedicate adequate time and effort for it.
Staying compliant, however, is mandatory and the cost of non-compliance can be steep in terms of financial penalties or a dent in reputation. A few ways how a dental practice can stay compliant are as below:
Shuffling through files and folders for what one needs can be a waste of time for the dental team. One needs to maintain the availability of files and documents as evidence during an audit. Any pertinent incident or event that has transpired in the practice must be recorded. A patient’s records and medical history also need to be maintained.
A practice can select from multiple cloud-based dental practice software options to digitize all compliance elements, including incident management and audit. This helps to improve the dental team's productivity while also boosting patient safety.
Crafting and implementing meticulous compliance plans are vital for any dental practice. These serve as guidelines for a practice to operate and work within legal boundaries. A dental regulatory compliance plan needs to define specific procedures and measures that a dental practice must follow to stay compliant with applicable regulations.
A compliance plan must contain detailed policies and protocols that cover all operational areas of the practice such as infection control, billing and coding, patient privacy, and team management.
A complete compliance plan needs to ensure that a practice adheres to all protocols and this can be enabled through training and educational sessions. All members of the dental team need to understand and support these protocols. Reviews of the compliance plan and frequent monitoring must be done. Changes in regulatory guidelines that affect the practice must be reflected in the plan.
It is highly imperative for a dental practice to ensure that the team receives periodic HIPAA and OSHA training. Training the team safeguards the practice as well as patients. A lack of structured training schedules can make the dental practice vulnerable to compliance breaches. There can be accidents or injuries inflicted on patients or the team. Regular training can avoid such unwanted incidents.
The team must receive training at least once a year or when there are changes in the team or guidelines. For example, the practice may switch from paper charts to digital records. Accordingly, all policies need to be updated and the team is properly trained on using the system so that basic requirements such as patient confidentiality are properly maintained.
The practice needs to ensure that all team members follow compliance guidelines as this will help avoid violations and steep financial penalties.
Careful monitoring of HIPAA and OSHA activities as well as risk assessment is necessary to stay compliant. Conducting a risk assessment helps detect where procedures or standards of conduct are not up to the mark. Lacking. A risk assessment may also be deemed necessary to recognize areas of vulnerability when the dental practice has made revisions in operational processes.
Patient privacy is a high-priority aspect of the regulatory bodies and a dental practice needs to have a sharp focus on it. Regulations that govern a dental practice may differ across states, however, a dental practice irrespective of location needs to comply with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) that safeguards patient data and confidentiality.
Policies must be developed and implemented within the dental practice that ensure patient data and other sensitive material that could including EHRs (electronic health records), and verbal communication are adequately secured. The dental team needs to be trained about patient privacy rules as well as about the repercussions that a practice can face in case of a HIPAA breach.
A dental practice operates in a high-stress environment and there can be emergencies that might not even be dentistry-related. A practice must always have a precise emergency preparedness and response plan that can handle all aspects of compliance that govern it.
Within the premises, there could be a calamity that ranges from a fire, natural disaster, or even a disease outbreak. An emergency plan that can be immediately put into action in case of medical emergencies or evacuations is crucial. The team needs to be trained on how to communicate during a crisis and other procedures during an emergency.
Emergency drills need to be periodically conducted and all team members need to be responsible about their roles and responsibilities when an emergency arises.
Patient billing is a key function in a dental practice. If billing and coding are inaccurate, the practice can run a risk of improper patient charges or overbilling which can result in insurance fraud. Such errors can be detrimental practice and they can be slapped with stiff fines.
Hence, accuracy in billing and coding is vital for financial and regulatory compliance. A practice needs to establish a robust billing and coding process that adheres to evolving regulatory guidelines and insurance regulations. Regular audits of billing and coding procedures can help maintain accuracy. The team also needs to be trained at regular intervals. A practice can also outsource this vital function to experienced billing and coding specialists. This can ensure accurate financial management while also helping a practice to stay compliant.
Dental regulatory compliance is beyond a legal obligation. It also offers a dental practice the means to deliver quality care to patients while also maintaining their trust. A practice needs to take adequate steps to ensure that guidelines governing their practice are adhered to. This can foster a culture of compliance while also safeguarding the practice from legal consequences and unnecessary financial penalties.
