Ethics & Compliance Program
Ethics & Compliance Program
We believe the Ethics and Compliance program should accomplish 3 major objectives:
- We should educate our employees and stakeholders on the laws and regulations that affect their role at Capella
- We should ensure we are doing everything we can to comply with the laws and regulations that apply to Capella, and
- We promote a culture of personal integrity, based on the premises that honest mistakes will be made and we will learn from our mistakes. Employees and stakeholders are encouraged to come forward with honest mistakes and will not be punished for making them.
The educational component of our Ethics and Compliance program encourages every employee or stakeholder to seek information about his or her role at Capella. To that end, we have a policy that allows employees to direct questions directly to our Office of Ethics & Compliance. It is the responsibility of the Office of Ethics & Compliance to receive answers to those questions and report back to the employee.
At Capella, we do not proctor exams or review every work product of our employees. Our Code of Conduct requires our employees to conduct their jobs with honor and integrity. The Code of Conduct also requires our employees to report instances of misconduct. As is the case in many institutions that have a Code of Conduct, the failure to report misconduct is considered just as serious as the misconduct itself.
Capella’s Ethics and Compliance Policies and Procedures (E&C Policies) are comprehensive. We have 145 detailed policies which address areas of hospital legal and regulatory compliance. The annual Code of Conduct is based on an abstract of those policies.
The E&C Policies are provided to Capella hospital Ethics and Compliance Officers for notice and distribution within each facility. They are posted on the Company’s intranet as well as the Company’s external website. Individuals within a facility who have responsibility for a particular area of compliance risk addressed by policy are responsible for implementing relevant policies, conducting necessary monitoring and overseeing corrective action or process improvements.
Capella maintains an Ethics Line to report items of concern or violations of policy. Although we encourage our associates to work with the local Ethics & Compliance Officers on matters of concern, the Ethics Line is an option to ensure such matters are identified and acted upon in a timely and effective manner. The Ethics Line can also be used to pose questions or receive clarification of certain laws and regulations.
You can also use the following contact information to contact the Capella Office of Ethics & Compliance:
Office of Ethics & Compliance
Capella Healthcare, Inc.
Attention, Eugene A. Fay, Ethics and Compliance Officer
501 Corporate Centre Drive, Suite 200
Franklin, Tennessee 37067
Phone: 615/764-3007
Fax: 615/764-3038
Our Code of Conduct
Our Code of Conduct is updated each year and is required reading for our employees. Our entire Workforce is expected to abide by our Ethics & Compliance policies. The Workforce is defined under HIPAA regulations as including not only employees, but also medical staff members, volunteers, trainees, contracted personnel, business associates and other persons who perform work for the hospital, whether or not they are paid by the covered entity.
For a PDF copy of our Code of Conduct guidebook, click here>> Capella Code 2011 Capella Ethics Line: 866-384-4276
The Capella Ethics Line is your opportunity to report concerns or infractions that you believe are not being handled properly by the facility. Employees who are uncomfortable discussing issues with facility personnel may also want to call the Ethics Line. Your call will be handled by Ethics Point, an outside firm that specializes in Ethics line calls. Ethics Point is not in any way connected to Capella. Ethics Point will discuss the matter with you and provide the corporate E&C department with a written synopsis. You DO NOT have to give your name and contact information, but if you do, it will allow someone to contact you for follow-up information. The Ethics Line is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Moreover, you can make an online report directly to Ethics Point.
We thank you for taking the time to report matters of concern to you. You can be assured we will investigate your concerns promptly.
For more information on Capella Healthcare’s Ethics and Compliance program, click here.