Navigating Ever-Changing Healthcare Regulations: How Locum Tenens Staff Help Keep Your Hospital Compliant

There’s always something to monitor as a hospital or healthcare facility administrator. 

And one of the most important of them are healthcare regulations. 

From HIPAA updates, CMS guidelines, etc. regulations change frequently. And you have to shift with them.  

Bringing on locum tenens professionals can help you maintain compliance. Here’s how. 

Keep up with regulatory compliance 

The Healthcare Compliance Association reported in April of last year that many healthcare leaders report struggling with staying current with regulatory changes

Many healthcare facilities have found that having a dedicated compliance team can be of great value, as the group can focus just on understanding/implementation new regulations, helping to ensure that your facility stays in step. 

Yet one major mistake many facilities make is not keeping regular staff trained on new regulations. 

Locum professionals can help enhance your team’s compliance knowledge

Locums can help fill compliance-related skills gaps in your permanent healthcare team. Bringing locum compliance specialists to address specific compliance issues can improve regulatory adherence.  

For great results, build a “knowledge transfer system” between permanent and locum staff. Many of these temporary personnel have considerable experience with compliance issues and a system can help ensure that locums’ knowledge/experience can become a part of your ongoing compliance efforts. 

Failing to ensure that locums’ insights aren’t “permanently” used within your compliance strategies means you could miss out on valuable experiences and perspectives. 

Maximizing locum tenens in your compliance efforts

Some steps: 

  1. Define your compliance needs clearly before bringing locum professionals onboard. 
  1. Encourage open – and frequent – communication between your permanent staff and the locums. This helps facilitate the free exchange of knowledge between them.  
  1. Think about building a mentorship program where experienced locum staff can guide less-experienced permanent staff on compliance issues and steps. 
  1. Make sure to document the procedures/processes the locums create and develop. Write down any and all insights/procedures the locums provide for future use. 

Keep in mind that the goal isn’t necessarily to address immediate regulatory issues or concerns. Instead, look to create a “culture” of following and keeping up-to-date on all regulations. 

Strategically bringing in locum pros for help in your regulatory efforts can help you build a resilient/adaptable – and compliant – medical facility. Such an approach help you keep up to day within the compliance landscape while also enhancing your hospital’s/clinic’s operational efficiency.  

We’re no medical center, but we understand how critical full regulatory compliance is to our healthcare clients. We’d love the opportunity to talk to you more about how we can help you make your way through this complex/critical step in your patient care. 

Learn more about how SUMO Staffing can help you with all of your locum tenens staffing needs.