Pass Inspection & Be Ready for Any Emergency
Don’t leave compliance up to chance. HealthFirst Compliance Solutions offers essential compliance training and several emergency preparedness solutions that ensure practices are ready for anything.
Maintaining compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) can prove arduous for a busy dental practice, but it’s not something any dentist can skimp on. The results of poor compliance include fines, downtime, and damage to your reputation in the community. Finding a compliance expert partner can help remove the guesswork from the process and ensure you’re always prepared and up to date with the latest changes.
Jill Obrochta, RDH, founded DentalEnhancements, now HealthFirst Compliance Solutions, which provides OSHA and HIPAA solutions through HealthFirst. “I’ve been researching and developing compliance programs—and educating dental professionals on how to implement them successfully—since 1989,” she said. The goal of the programs, as explained by Obrochta, is to make compliance easy and streamlined.
Three Tips for Compliance Success
Kelsi Engle, EFDA, the office manager at Bratton Dental in Missouri, has been using HealthFirst Compliance Solutions for about 8 years. “I had been using it at my previous practice and when I joined Dr. Bratton, she asked what we needed to do to get HIPAA and OSHA compliant,” explained Engle. “I knew exactly who to call.”
Obrochta recommends 3 steps for successful compliance. “First, make sure that you have comprehensive team training,” she said. “Make sure everyone is trained at least annually—more frequently if you’re changing technology or if there is any incident where you would have to update a protocol.”
After the training step, Obrochta advises that practices create protocol checklists. “As you implement the required protocols, make sure they’re geared toward your state and your dental specialty,” she explained.
The final step in Obrochta’s compliance success recommendations involves maintaining current documents. “The first thing that inspectors are going to look for when they come into the office is documents,” she said. “Make sure your OSHA and HIPAA manuals are current, and make sure you have proof of training for your employees who require it. You also want to make sure your patient forms are up to current standards.”
Wide Range of Resources
The HealthFirst Compliance Solutions website provides a range of resources and training packages. For example, the All-in-One Deluxe Premium Package includes a 2.5-hour on-demand webinar and a 4-hour guided help admin session with customized OSHA and HIPAA checklists and fill-in-the-blank navigation of manuals and forms. Team members can earn 5 certifications in OSHA, infection control, COVID-19 management, international Global Harmonization System, and federal HIPAA omnibus rules.
“The thing I like best about HealthFirst Compliance Solutions is the ease of use,” said Engle. “They have tabs for everything, so when it comes time to renew forms, I know exactly where to go. If I don’t, I call my HealthFirst Compliance Solutions rep and she sorts it out for me.”
Get Confident
The process of dental practice compliance with federal and state regulations can make anyone anxious. But don’t let concern about making a mistake with paperwork or overlooking a crucial protocol derail you. Partnering with a solution like HealthFirst and HealthFirst Compliance Solutions can help alleviate that anxiety. “If an inspector came in today,” said Engle, “I’m confident that we would pass.”
