Compliance Perspectives

By Adam Turteltaub

As of January 2024, there’s a new Code of Conduct of the Volkswagen Group, replacing one developed in 2017.

To understand what led to the latest iteration of the code and the vision behind it we spoke with Silke Becker and Sarah Specht (LinkedIn) of Volkswagen Group Integrity & Compliance. They are part of a team lead by Tina Landsmann, Head of Volkswagen Group Center of Competence Integrity & Compliance Awareness & Qualification and Dr. Kurt Michels, Volkswagen Group Chief Integrity & Compliance Officer.

The code was updated to reflect changing times, including the draft European Supply Chain Act. This required a change in content, but the team also chose to update the tone and feel.

The language of the document now focuses on “we” and “us”, and it is very proactive, making the document less about what the board or management calls for and is instead about what we as a group are committing to. Each section of the code has a headline that reinforces this message: “We take responsibility for human rights,” “We lead based on our values,” “We like diversity.”

The document embraces a magazine style to increase readability, and there is the opportunity to digitally drill down on individual topics, make it a one-stop shop for employees.

As the team developed the document, in partnership with individuals around the company from multiple departments, they had several goals in mind. First, it had to be relevant for everyone, whether working in conventional auto manufacturing or battery development. Second, it had to work all around the globe given Volkswagen’s global footprint. It also had to be more human.

Take some time to see all of these elements and more when you explore the code. Then listen to the podcast to hear the story behind it and, maybe, get some ideas for updating your code of conduct.

By Adam Turteltaub

On January 5, 2023 the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive went into force. The directive broadens the scope of companies report on sustainability issues, adds to the amount of information that needs to be reported, and even requires external assurance, reports Elena Sychenko (LinkedIn), Adjunct Professor at the Department of Management at the University of Bologna and currently a Fulbright Scholar at the Wharton School of Business.

The directive now covers all listed companies with the exception of micro enterprises. Also falling under it are non-EU companies that have a significant presence in the EU.

The reporting requirements, which are still being fully developed, closely follow the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and focus on ESG explicitly, with several areas of reporting under E, S, and G. These include:

E: climate change, pollution, water, biodiversity

S: the organization’s own workforce, the workforce in the value chain, affected communities, consumers and end users

G: business conduct in general

Compliance teams will need to ensure that the reporting is accurate. One area to watch out for, she notes, is vagueness. A company may choose to provide overly vague information that could be misleading.

Listen in to learn more about the directive and the risks involved.

By Adam Turteltaub

The No Surprises Act is a significant change to how healthcare coverage is handled and billed. In general, it eliminates balance billing in three typical areas:

A patient is brought to an emergency room in an out of network hospital

A patient is transported by air ambulance

A patient is being cared for at an in-network hospital but, unbeknownst to him or her, a physician or service that is out of network provides care.

To understand the Act more fully, we spoke with Brian Stimson, Partner, Arnall Golden Gregory, who will be leading the session The All Surprises Act:  Avoiding Compliance Pitfalls and Responding to Administrative Enforcement Actions under the Surprise Billing Laws at the 2024 HCCA Compliance Institute.

As he explains, there is a two-tiered enforcement structure to the law, with both individual states and the federal government involved.

Compliance teams looking to ensure their organizations are complying need to pay close attention to patient complaints. These can be a tip off to improper balance billing and a red flag of systemic issues. Be extra alert if a patient comes to them, and it can even be good to check social media for reports of wrongful billing.

Listen in to learn more, and then join us in Nashville, April 14-17, for the HCCA Compliance Institute.

By Adam Turteltaub

When it comes to risk assessments, the word “annual” comes up a lot. But, Kelly Alwin, Regional Compliance Officer North America for SAP America, believes that once a year may be more than a bit too long.

To her, a risk assessment is more than a periodic assessment and an annual chore. It is critical to the program’s success and lends credibility and substance to the compliance program. She points out that from the Delaware Chancery Court to the US Department of Justice, the importance of a strong risk assessment is underscored.

In this podcast she argues that, for the risk assessment to play the role it should, it can’t afford to sit on the shelf. It needs to be a dynamic document that both informs all the other elements of the program and evolves as risks evolve, whether due to a new go to market strategy, a merger or an entry into a new market.

Bottom line: look at your risk assessment, she advises, not as a discrete activity but as a continuous analysis. Incorporate micro assessments, embrace continuous improvement, and, hopefully, enjoy a more effective compliance and ethics program as a result.

By Adam Turteltaub

Behavioral health shares many of the same compliance challenges as the rest of healthcare, but it also has several of its own.

To understand the risks, we sat down with Community Counseling Solutions’ Executive Director Kimberly Lindsay and Compliance & Privacy Officer Tim Timmons. They will be leading the session “Developing an Ethics and Compliance Program in Behavioral Health” at the HCCA 28th Annual Compliance Institute, which will be in Nashville, April 14-17 and also offered in a virtual format.

In this podcast they identify several typical compliance challenges in the behavioral health setting:

Managers and supervisors who are well intentioned but busy, not holding staff accountable and not reporting in a timely manner.

Incidents after hours when a patient is in crisis. This is a very difficult situation.  The team is eager to help the patient get better, but with lots of adrenaline flowing in a difficult situation, they may find themselves sharing more information about the patient than they should.

Sharing PHI improperly when working with community partners.

Mishandling of subpoenas and court ordered requests for records which may not comport with 42 CFR.

Coding and dual diagnosis treatment

Treatment plans that are not updated before providing services

Overly verbose documentation

Listen in as they outline these issues and ways to address them. Then, plan on joining us in Nashville for the 28th Annual Compliance Institute.

By Adam Turteltaub

While Ericsson is best known for its mobile phones, the company’s reach in wireless is far greater. It is the creator of Bluetooth technology, owns patents on much of the critical IP that wireless systems depend on, and is active in more than 180 countries providing much of the hardware, and even cellphone towers, that enables all of us to talk, text, and surf the web wherever we are in the world.

Jan Sprafke, Chief Compliance Officer at Ericsson, explains in this podcast that with that global reach – including operations in approximately 100 high risk countries – also comes a large network of suppliers. To manage the potential compliance challenges that go along with it, the company uses a risk-based approach to supplier management

They assess the country risk, go to market approach and whether the supplier will be using subcontractors. Then they work closely with sourcing and other assurance functions on an ongoing basis.

The company’s supplier code of conduct is shared with their vendors. But, it is just the start. There is also training provided, supplier days, meetings with them to discuss FCPA, AML, health and safety and other topics. All of these efforts and more help suppliers understand what Ericsson’s expectations are, not just in principle but also in practice.

They even work with many of their contractors as they select their subcontractors.

The goal is to create an end-to-end framework for managing third party compliance risk.

Download the podcast (maybe even on your mobile device) to learn more.

By Adam Turteltaub

Julie Janeway (LinkedIn), General Counsel and principal owner, Principled  Healthcare Consulting will be speaking about internal and parallel investigations at the 2024 HCCA Compliance Institute. In this podcast she slices off a bit of that expertise.

A thorough investigation is needed, she advises whenever there is an issue that could require arbitration, a court case, administrative hearing, contractual dispute or reputational issues, whether by an employee, contractor or the organization itself. The same is true if there is a policy breach or alleged violation of the code of conduct.

So how best to do it? Have both an investigation plan and a preplan which designates who will be responsible for the investigation depending on what the issue is. For example, a privacy officer would likely play the lead role in a HIPAA breach allegation.

As for the plan itself, it should be thorough. The team executing it should include individuals with a wide range of skills and, she highly recommends it include an experienced investigations attorney.

What should you avoid? Several things, she cites, including retaliation, making the plan as you go along, letting supervisors or managers interview subordinates and not having insurance for when investigations happen.

The rules are largely the same with parallel investigations, which are required pursuant to statues that call for entities notified of an investigation by a governmental agency to conduct their own investigation. These absolutely must be done, or the organization may face sanctions. She highly recommends doing these investigation under attorney-client privilege.

Listen in to learn more about what to do and what not to do in an investigation. Then, don’t miss her session at the 2024 Compliance Institute, March 18-20 in Nashville.

By Adam Turteltaub

In 1984 I went to my friend Chris’s wedding, and one of the other groomsmen, Drew Neisser (LinkedIn), his then boss, talked me into pursuing a career in advertising. Just a few months shy of 40 years later, I caught a video on LinkedIn of him with chief marketing officers discussing the struggles of managing remote workers. It didn’t matter that these were marketing people, the problems sounded just like we in compliance face.

So, I asked Drew, who is the founder of CMO Huddles and the author of the book Renegade Marketing:  12 Steps to Building Unbeatable B2B Brands, to sit down and do a podcast on the topic.

Drew points out that, despite workers being required to come into the office more often, there is still a cost to remote work. Churn is higher than before. Partners at law firms complain that their associates are years behind in their development, likely due to the inability to learn by osmosis.

So what do we do? He recommends that we recognize the present reality and look to hire self-starters. People who need a great deal of hand holding will not work out in a world where their managers are miles, if not hundreds of miles, away.

Second, make sure the team understands what the organization’s business is. Then, help them connect, intellectually and emotionally, with it. If they don’t, then it’s just another job to them.

Incorporate virtual bonding activities, but also try to get the team together in person. That effort creates culture and connection.

Looking outside your team, he recommends four tactics:

Meet, ideally in person. Get to know your colleagues, and understand their business priorities. Focus on helping them solve their problems.

Track all the people you want to meet and influence. Then, take active steps to connect with them and get to know them.

Share something about yourself and encourage them to do the same. Get to know the person and stay in touch. For example, send them over articles you think they would find of interest based on what you learned about them.

Join formal and informal work groups. If there is a team forming to tackle a problem, be a part of it. But also look to book groups and other less structured ways to connect.

Throughout, he advises thinking of yourself as an impact player and a business leader.

Finally, he advises understanding how people want to communicate these days, and meet them there. The era of relying solely on email are done, especially for the younger generation.

Listen in for some very good insights for compliance officers from a career marketer.

By Adam Turteltaub

Some people have a gift for invisibly attending a conference, and no one knows that they were even there. That’s great for a conference of spies, but most people at compliance conferences like to meet at least some of the other attendees.

For many, though, connecting with strangers is difficult, whether they know no one or they are shy about going beyond their usual circle of contacts.

So what do you do if you are one of them?

To find out we spoke with Richard Bistrong (LinkedIn), newsletter author and CEO Of Frontline Antibribery, who will be moderating a general session at the 2024 SCCE European Compliance & Ethics Institute in Amsterdam.

If you spot someone standing alone and looking a bit lost, he recommends you think like a host and invite them to join you. Even if you’re already talking with friends, he advises being a croissant and not a bagel: be sure there is an opening for others. Make the effort to catch them up with the conversation – “we were just discussing helplines”—and ask them to share their thoughts.

If you hesitate to join conversations because you don’t feel you are good at small talk, think of a few questions in advance to use as ice breakers. They don’t have to be traditional compliance-related questions. You could ask people about what excited them the most in the last year. Richard often uses Vertellis cards to start or help conversations.

For those at the conference with a friend or colleague, use the other person as your wingman or wingwoman. Tell them who you are interested in meeting and have them serve as a second set of eyes and ears.

Also, don’t forget about the SCCE & HCCA staff as a source of connection. See if they know someone it would be good for you to talk with.

Listen in to learn more, including how to follow up properly after the conference is over.

Then, be sure to say hello to Richard (and offer him a croissant) in Amsterdam at the 2024 SCCE European Compliance & Ethics Institute, March 18-20.

By Adam Turteltaub

Compliance programs have come far over the last few decades, but there is still more that they could do to elevate their performance. In this podcast, Alison Taylor, Clinical Associate Professor at NYU Stern School of Business and author of the book Higher Ground shares some intriguing and provocative ideas for improvement.

She is a strong believer in what she calls “firm foundations”. These foundations avoid having too many rules which can, inadvertently, have a negative impact, causing employees to abdicate responsibility for their action and grow overly reliant on following rules. Instead, she argues for simplifying and being attuned to human behavior and the role of incentives.

Be wary too, she advises, of mixed messages and potentially pernicious effects when it appears, whether true or not, that the rules for the rank and file do not apply to leadership. It degrades trust and the culture.

To get more employees to speak up when they see wrongdoing, she advises investing the time in understanding why they don’t raise their hands more.

When it comes to measuring the impact of the compliance program, she is a strong proponent of measuring the ethical culture. Do employees feel safe speaking up?  Whom do they speak to when there is a problem? Do they believe the whistleblower line is truly anonymous? Is leadership looking out for them?

The answers to these questions, and how they change over time, can illuminate how well the program is working.

Listen in to gain more insights, including how to build a common ethical foundation and the importance of adequate authority for the compliance and ethics program.