Are we compliant enough?

We have to be trained how to be compliant with the billing and reimbursement by Medicare laws once every year. I almost know the whole presentation by heart by now.

More about compliance.

It starts out with the fact that Labcorp paid out a huge settlement to the government back in the 1990's.

Labcorp settlement

This is to show how important it is for us, the employees, to follow the law. Next is all about the law and how to follow it. It is almost as if we are being set up as the fall guys for the next violation that happens.

There is one interesting section where we are told about how there is a compliance officer and we are to call that person with any suspicions that compliance is not being followed, but there is one fact that is quickly glossed over. If one calls the government and blows the whistle on the lab's violations, then you get a percentage of the settlement the government collects, which could be enough to retire on.

Here is one such case.

Are we enlisted to help the lab hide what they are doing with billing from the government regulators? The billing problems are investigated by the FBI, so if you want to "rat out" your lab, just call your local office of the FBI.

The interesting thing about this was when the trainer said that there are two things that the lab receives and two things that the lab sends out. He made it sound like the lab is some sort of a black box. The lab receives a doctor's orders and a specimen. That is what goes in one side of the black box. What comes out the other side is a lab report and a bill. An account receivable. Money. Profit.

What was unsaid is that the input side of the laboratory black box needs money to run. As long as the output exceeds the input in regards to money, all is well. What really doesn't matter is patient care, client service or precision or accuracy. All that is inside the black box and unseen by the managers. It doesn't matter to them. Their job is to minimize the input money and maximize the output money. All of which makes life for lab rats like me very stressful. One way to relieve that stress is to blow the lid off that black box and give people a look inside.