Understanding the Difference between Compliance and Risk Management

In the Eleventh Annual 2020 Healthcare Compliance Benchmark Survey Report, four out of 10 respondents reported their compliance office had assumed responsibility for risk management. This should raise some concerns, as distinguishing risk management from compliance is often an area of confusion for many. Compliance is not the same thing as risk management, and care should be taken not to bundle them in a single function.

Reprinted from Journal of Health Care Compliance, Volume 22, Number 3, May–June 2020, pages 49–50, 68–69, with permission from CCH and Wolters Kluwer.

About the Author

Richard P. Kusserow established Strategic Management Services, LLC, after retiring from being the DHHS Inspector General, and has assisted over 2,000 health care organizations and entities in developing, implementing and assessing compliance programs.