Hotlines
Compliance alert hotlines for reporting a company or organization’s misconduct are common ways for employees to report unsafe conduct as well as law and policy violations. Employees can use these lines to anonymously make reports on their own time.
An organization benefits when they encourage early reporting through a hotline. This enables a company to solve a concern while it is small, before it intensifies into a large problem, well before too much damage occurs.
So, hotlines are necessary for quickly conveying important information. But are hotlines worth the investment of time and money to implement?
Hotlines are helpful in many ways
Reporters are often upset and scared. It has been shown that compliance reports tend to be more comprehensive and clear when live, experienced operators listen and make note of the complaint on a hotline as opposed to a web-based platform.
A reporting system operated by an outside organization is generally seen as more trustworthy than one operated by the employer. Additionally, third-party operators generally have more experience managing these calls, and will provide management with informative hotline data, as well as analyses of the hotline’s efficacy.
What kinds of improper conduct are reported to compliance alert hotlines?
- employee misconduct
- discrimination
- sexual harassment
- privacy/security issues
- inappropriate staff/patient relationships
- employee drug use
- medication diversion
- utilization issues
- improper billing practices and/or clinical documentation
What about fear of retaliation? How do we implement a culture of compliance?
It is of upmost importance that reporters do not face identification, retaliation, or retribution at their organization. It is not enough to implement a third-party compliance line, but communication/training should occur that assures employees about what will happen after a report is made. Ensure that ethics and compliance trickles down from leadership. Only when an organization fosters a culture of compliance and ethical decision-making will employees feel safe to point out potential problems.
A positive reputation can be shattered in a moment
Protect your organization with a compliance alert line. Our compliance alert line supports behavioral health compliance programs by giving employees and stakeholders the option to report improper, unethical, or illegal conduct 24 hours a day. By calling the confidential and toll free Alert Line phone number, reports can be made anonymously without fear of identification, retaliation, or retribution.
Alert line TESTIMONIAL
The following is a testimonial from one of Brown Consulting’s Alert Line clients:
“Brown Consulting, Ltd., made reporting and tracking corporate compliance easy. They give our employees access to an impartial third party, trained in handling corporate compliance matters with confidentiality and sensitivity.
They are one of the many reasons we continue to provide quality, safe, and effective behavioral health services.”
-Kameshia Rogers, Regional Executive Director at Premier Care, Inc