HOW NAE CAN SUPPORT MEDICAL PRACTICES WITH HR COMPLIANCE

While all companies should comply with employment laws and regulations, some industries are more heavily regulated than others. This is especially true in the medical industry. Medical providers are focused on the services they provide to patients and not on the back-end administrative needs of the practice as a business.

Case in point – I was at a doctor’s appointment in 2022 and saw a binder on the counter that said MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets). These are documents required by OSHA that contain item ingredients and instructions on what to do if ingested in a harmful fashion.

That’s all well and good, except that OSHA changed the MSDS to just SDS (Safety Data Sheets) back in 2012 and businesses had until 2015 to get them changed out and updated. At the time, OSHA was clear that a failure to switch to the new system would result in exorbitant fines. Yet, there we were, in 2022, with a compliance issue that after all this time, would surely result in a fine.

I told my doctor about it, and she was gobsmacked. She had no idea and asked me if I would please talk to her practice manager on the way out, which I happily did. The practice manager had no idea because he didn’t have time to look into what they should be doing or even know what to look for if he did. On top of everything else — their labor law posters were also out-of-date.

If any of this sounds familiar or has caused concerns regarding your own HR compliance, this is where Nevada Association of Employers (NAE) comes in.

How Can NAE Help with HR Compliance?

Compliance in healthcare is not just a regulatory obligation; it is essential for safeguarding the integrity and reputation of medical practices. Non-compliance can lead to severe consequences, including hefty fines, legal actions, and irreparable damage to a medical practice’s reputation.

Keeping Up-To-Date with Changes in the Law

When laws change at the federal or state level, we notify our members so they can plan ahead to implement the change. We provide members with the commonly required federal and state labor law notices in an All-In-Two Labor Laws Poster, and update those notices when changes occur. This saves our members time and unnecessary frustration researching what might have changed. We tell them what has change. Oftentimes, we also put together a Fact Sheet that easily explains what they need to know.

Our team of human resources and legal professionals provides training in a variety of topics. Whether your team needs leadership training or more technical compliance training, like training on HIPAA. We can help. HIPAA training is a requirement for medical practices, hospitals and clinics, but also to adjacent industries, like insurance brokers, medical billing, health insurance companies etc. Failing to adhere to HIPAA regulations can result in fines that can reach millions of dollars, depending on the severity of the violation, so its important to make sure your staff is well versed.

Reviewing or creating HR policies and procedures is another area where NAE can assist your medical practice. Recently, one of our members learned that they are mandatory reporters and must ask “safe at home” questions of their patients. They were uncertain how to proceed with creating and implementing a policy. We were able to help them craft a policy that addressed the reporting requirement and provided guidance on their storage and retention requirements as well.

Benchmarking Compensation and Employee Benefits

Compensation strategies for recruiting and retention are more important than ever before in the medical industry. Through our partnership with Payscale, our members get access the Payscale Peer, an online compensation platform with salary data for over 5,000 benchmark positions, to research compensation at a micro level to ensure they are competitive with other medical practices. NAE can also assist with compensation and bonus structures, as well as wage ranges for each job.

Our annual Benefits and Personnel Practices Survey is another way to keep your eye on the competition and provide comparable perks to your employees. The survey is conducted annually and covers 24 benefits and personnel practice categories, including health coverage, work schedules, drug & alcohol testing, holidays, paid time off (PTO), wealth insurance and health insurance, flexible benefits, severance, and more. We believe this survey provides the most comprehensive, reliable, and current information available for Nevada employers.

Finally, our HR hotline is our most utilized service. As a benefit of membership, we provide our members with unlimited access to our team of legal and HR professionals by phone and email through our HR Hotline. This provides ongoing and easily accessible support for HR compliance issues and employment-related questions and problems. We can help you navigate the simple questions (how much is minimum wage) as well as the more complex questions (what to do when your RN just accused one of the Managing Partners of sexual harassment). 

If your clinic or practice has multiple locations and practice managers, our HR Hotline can alleviate some of the HR workflow by helping your practice managers navigate their day-to-day employee issues and establish best practices. If more hands-on assistance is needed — on a temporary or long-term basis — our HR Assist program is available to help with everyday tasks and your toughest challenges.

Become a Member for Support with Your HR and Compliance Needs

In the highly regulated and compliance-heavy healthcare industry, membership with Nevada Association of Employers will round out your toolkit of support for your Human Resources and Management teams.

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