By Adam Turteltaub

Uh oh.  The Feds are in the front lobby with a search warrant.  Things are bad, and you don’t want anyone on site to make it worse.

The secret is preparation, shares Veronica Xu, SCCE & HCCA Board Member and Chief Compliance Officer, HIPAA Privacy Officer, ADA Administrator at Saber Healthcare Group.  That begins with establishing a cross-functional team that likely includes compliance, the general counsel, CEO, CTO and, depending on your industry, the chief medical officer and others.

Each should play a part in shaping the plan and be ready to play their part if a raid occurs.

In addition, onsite staff, right down to the receptionist, needs to understand their responsibilities, including whom to call for help.  Not only will that avoid very costly mistakes, it will help reduce errors, fear and stress at what will likely be an extremely difficult time.

What an individual gets trained on will vary by role.  Yet, there is one commonality to the training.  Everyone needs to know the importance of staying calm, being polite and respectful.

Be sure to also outline the do’s and don’ts.

There’s one other thing she strongly advises: remember to communicate with your workforce.  Be as transparent as possible and avoid conflicting messages.  That will keep the lines of communication open and help avoid the speculation that can make the disruption even worse.

Listen in to learn more, and then take a fresh look at your current plans for responding to a government raid.