OnBoard Helps Federally Qualified Health Centers Stay HRSA-Compliant

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One of the reasons many organizations choose OnBoard to manage and organize their board meetings is the platform’s strong record on compliance.  Healthcare compliance – the process of adhering to rules, standards, policies, laws, and regulations that relate to medical practices – is not only about keeping operations running smoothly. It promotes safe, high-quality care, and in this high-risk industry where decision-making is measured in minutes or seconds, proper compliance is essential.

Community health centers must adhere to the regulations set forth by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). This post examines how one community health center (who has chosen to remain anonymous) uses OnBoard to stay HRSA-compliant.

Please note: an additional HRSA case study is also available here from Valley Professionals Community Health Center.

 “A Very Diverse Board” Must Meet Broad Regulatory Requirements

This Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) is comprised of nearly a dozen community health centers and nearly 20 school-based health centers. Its board is made up of 15 members, 51% of which have experienced care as a patient. But raw numbers alone don’t tell the whole story. When discussing the board, words like “community” and “care” are used frequently, and heartwarming patient stories are shared freely.

“We have a very diverse board,” says the Project Coordinator for the FQHC’s board. “We have people who are in the banking industry and the healthcare industry. We have a construction guy who is a single parent and his kids have been seen here for the last 20 years. He really loves this community, and once he retired, he started sitting on our board.”

Staying Compliant Using OnBoard

To stay HRSA-compliant, a healthcare organization must do more than merely follow a set of guidelines and rules. It requires the organization to maintain accurate records, safeguard personal data, and provide instant access to documentation – all of which are key capabilities of OnBoard.

“As a mission-driven organization, we strive every day to make a meaningful difference in our community,” says the FQHC’s Project Coordinator. “Demonstrating HRSA compliance is an essential part of maintaining oversight for the operations of each of the clinics.”

HRSA’s Health Center Program Compliance Manual outlines the requirements health centers must meet to demonstrate compliance. The following bullet points highlight select requirements from the Compliance Manual and the OnBoard features and capabilities the the FQHC’s board and staff uses to meet them.

• The FQHC CEO  gives a high-level administrative update on needs assessment at the board meeting (as specified in requirements 3A and 3B). Including documentation and charts, this report is so large that it cannot be sent via email or a single flash drive. Staff members upload it to one of OnBoard’s unlimited Resource Folders, and board members can view it in its entirety.

• When a health center needs a change in scope for services or site changes, a staff member reaches out to the board for a review, approval, and vote (as specified in requirement 4A). In the past, details would be sent out via email, reviewed, and voted on in person at the next board meeting. The board now uses OnBoard’s Voting and Approvals functionality to conduct the vote in real-time from anywhere and on any device.

• During the initial wave of COVID-19, FQHC needed to adjust the hours of operation at several of its clinics (as specified in requirements 6A, 6B, and 6C). The board used OnBoard’s Voting and Approvals to conduct a review and vote, enabling the organization to make quick decisions and stay responsive to patient needs amidst the pandemic.
  
• The board also used OnBoard to review and vote on a similar change of hours at the organization’s Adult Urgent Care facility (as specified in requirement 7C).

• Relevant documentation – including articles of incorporation, bylaws, and minutes – must be easily accessible to ensure the board maintains the authority for oversight of the health center (as specified in requirements 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D, and 19E).
  
• The board also uses OnBoard to keep other documents essential to maintaining business continuity, including org charts and staff job descriptions, instantly accessible (as specified in requirement 11A).

• With COVID-19 removing the option to meet in person, the board must now meet and execute its governance responsibilities remotely. That includes recruitment (as specified in requirements 20A, 20B, and 20C). The board currently conducts virtual interviews for new members, and thanks to the platform’s native Zoom integration, interviews are set up and conducted entirely within OnBoard. Resumes and other relevant documents are stored in OnBoard as well, with granular permissions limiting access solely to the board’s Governance Committee.

OnBoard Helps Improve the Quality of Care

Like the more well-known HIPAA standards, HRSA presents health centers like this FQHC with an extensive set of compliance requirements that can appear daunting at first. That’s why OnBoard was built from day one with compliance built-in. After all, in a highly-regulated industry like healthcare, functionality such as easy-to-use document access, real-time voting, and robust adherence to security standards are not optional. OnBoard is board management software that enables healthcare organizations to operate effectively, stay compliant, and improve the quality of care.