Reflections on the Basics of Delegation Oversight

Imagine entering University and enrolling into Advanced French Language and Literature, a 300-level class, with no previous knowledge or study of the French language. As your professor welcomes you into class with bonjour, bienvenue, ça va, you have no idea how to reply. Now imagine sticking with that course for the full semester, trying to understand complex language and reading concepts without the foundation or basics. It would be quite an overwhelming few months for anyone.

With any course of study, it is important to start from the beginning. Furthermore, if you want to master that course, teamwork and collaboration allows for practice and improvement towards fluency.

As we start wrapping up 2016 (and wrapping up holiday presents), it’s a good time to reflect on the basics. What does this have to do with delegation oversight? The basic premise of delegation is that you are entrusting someone to perform an activity on your behalf. If you are looking to delegate for success, we recommend the following key steps to take place at the very beginning:

• Get to know your delegate partner via pre-delegation discussions, site visit, and audit.
• Understand how your delegate will demonstrate effective, compliant activities on your behalf.
• Agree upon monitoring and auditing activities ahead of time, leaving room for augmentation.

We have seen many examples of delegation oversight programs and activities over the course of the year, and some Compliance Officers and Operations leaders find themselves in the delegation oversight equivalent of enrolling in Advanced French. That is, they were not involved in pre-delegation activities and, therefore, did not have a chance to advocate for the sponsor’s obligations towards an effective compliance program. Without the basic foundation, they find themselves in an uphill battle when they try to get data or ask for changes to monitoring frequency.

“Oversight of delegated entities can be an overwhelming task,” says Beth Matel, Senior Director of Compliance Solutions. “To help ensure a sponsor has the cooperation of the entity to which they have delegated responsibilities, they must start by including the pertinent contractual provisions outlined in Medicare Managed Care Manual, Chapter 11, Section 100.4 – Provider and Supplier Contract Requirements and 100.5 – Administrative Contracting Requirements.” Sponsors delegating Part D administrative or health care service functions will need to ensure the appropriate subcontractor contractual language is in place as well.

Our Compliance Solutions team is grateful for all the opportunities we have had this year to support our client partners and share best practices, from the basics to the advanced. As you reflect on your delegation oversight programs, give yourself a present if you:

1. Have strategies in place to ensure shared data is sent and received correctly each time (especially membership data!).
2. Conduct immediate root causes analysis in response to inquiries or grievances regarding something potentially amiss.
3. Complete robust testing prior to new benefit implementation.
4. Partner as a team (Compliance and Operations) to ensure success together.
5. Maintain a dedicated unit focused on delegation oversight.
6. Stay up to date on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requirements and changes as they affect your delegates and communicate them timely.

Bonne chance!

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