What is corporate compliance and what does it mean to you?

Because Gentiva Health Services is committed to promoting strong business ethics and accountability within the company, we are very focused on corporate compliance. Compliance basically has to do with following the law. The mission of our compliance team is to promote and monitor compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. This includes regulations governing federal and state healthcare programs, fraud and abuse matters, ethics, privacy and security requirements and corporate governance.

Because the laws surrounding healthcare services, billing and collection are complex, a strong compliance program is crucial to any healthcare company, whether large or small. Having a strong compliance program helps our company maintain its commitment to being an honest and responsible provider by identifying and preventing illegal and unethical conduct; improving the quality and consistency of patient care; creating a structure for employees to report potential problems; and developing procedures for prompt and thorough investigation of misconduct.

The initial purpose of compliance was to act as a mitigating factor to reduce liability under the law. Over the years, compliance has evolved into a more integral business component with its focus on maintaining the company's status as a good corporate citizen.

Gentiva Health Services implemented its compliance program in 1995, placing the company in a leadership role for instituting a proactive program before most of its competitors. The compliance department works closely with other company departments including legal, operations, nursing operations, and internal audit as well as the board of directors to ensure the adherence to compliance standards. It also works with the corporate training and development department to create compliance training programs for associates. Gentiva's associates must take a yearly compliance training certification course along with other training courses depending on the role they play in the company. In total, Gentiva Health Services provides more than 300,000 contact hours of compliance-related training each year. At Gentiva, every employee is educated in compliance, whether a clinician or support or administrative associate, and every employee is responsible for ensuring their own ethical, compliant behavior.

The Chief Compliance Officer

The Chief Compliance Officer for Gentiva Health Services is John Camperlengo. His role is to oversee all aspects of compliance for the company by working with many different departments, branch locations and associates to ensure the coordination of internal compliance and to answer any questions or concerns about compliance. His goal is to continually enhance Gentiva's proactivity in this area. For more information on Gentiva's compliance efforts, please contact Mr. Camperlengo at john.camperlengo@gentiva.com.