Employees want to work for a company whose executives are people with a moral compass.

Employees often mimic the behaviors of their leaders, positive and negative. For example, when
a boss asks an employee to do something that defies the rules of third party payers, he presents a
moral dilemma to the employee, but usually does not challenge the owner for fear of
repercussions.

While it is understandable that the company manages sustainability references and requests, it is
also vitally important to ensure that business policies are developed for compliance. For
example, I have repeatedly noted that all manual wheelchair users are provided with a package of
items that includes, among others, seat belts and anti-roll to prevent falls.

The technological advances and efficiencies faced by businesses today can also create privacy
risks for HIPAA. Using text messaging and email to communicate with patients is an example.
While it is significantly more efficient to send an email or text message to a patient for CPAP
consultation or supplies replenishment, the message must be encrypted and protected by privacy.

Just as complicated as HIPAA's privacy, knowing when to reject Medicare or other third party
payers requires an experienced, articulate, self-confident person about the rules and regulations
under which the HME industry is governed. . While the subject of this article has been to err as a
precaution, if you are sure of a written regulation that the payer is trying to err, keep firm and
persist in your conviction about what is right and what is wrong.

It has been said that a verbal assessment is sufficient to meet the manual wheelchair home
assessment requirement, an excellent example of when to postpone rules that you know the payer
is not following. Also, connect with your state and national organizations (aahomecare.org and
vgm.com) to work together to correct the error. While it is easier to see an obvious problem from
the outside, it is up to the HME company to find and solve these potentially dangerous problems
before they become threats to the company.