Fraud and abuse. Building an effective corporate compliance program.

In 1997, General Health System (GHS), a not-for-profit integrated delivery system headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, developed a formal corporate compliance program. A newly appointed corporate compliance officer worked with key GHS managers and employees to assess the organization's current fraud and abuse prevention practices and recommend changes to meet new regulatory and organizational requirements. Then a structure for implementing these changes was developed, with staff training at its core. The program required a significant initial outlay of financial and human resources. The benefits to the organization, however, including a greater ability to respond quickly and effectively to possible compliance problems and better organizational communications, were worth the investment.