Corporate Compliance

Tip: Assess risk, know organization through interviews

Healthcare Auditing Weekly, February 3, 2009

When assessing risk, it’s crucial to have a solid understanding of your organization, the services it provides, and how it provides these services on a daily basis. One of the best ways to learn about your organization is to conduct walk-around interviews, with department managers as well as department staff.
 
The benefits of conducting a successful interview can be endless. To prepare for the interview, perform the following steps:
  1. Obtain an organizational chart. This will help you identify where the interviewee’s department sits in the organization’s structure and to whom the department’s employees report.
  2. Notify the interviewee’s supervisor/manager. Unless you are planning a surprise walk-around interview, contact the interviewee’s supervisor/manager to let him or her know you will be conducting the interview.
  3. Obtain the interviewee’s job description. You may be surprised to learn during your interview that the interviewee does not have or was not provided with a job description upon hire.
  4. Obtain hospital-wide and departmental policies and procedures that apply to the department, and review them before conducting the walk-around interview. Having some knowledge of these will help you to better understand the department and relate to the individual(s) you interview.
  5. Prepare. Conducting a walk-around interview is a disruption to both the department in which you are interviewing and the individual(s) you are interviewing. Make sure you are prepared so disruption is minimal. 
This tip was adapted from The Compliance Professional’s Guide to Risk Assessments. For more information about the book or to order your copy, visit the HCMarketplace.
 

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