DISCIPLINARY MEASUREs
OIG Guidelines
Compliance officer independence and objectivity is essential for the enforcement of disciplinary guidelines in a fair and consistent manner. To create disciplinary guidelines, it is helpful to borrow a design thinking concept and create a very specific composite profile of an “extreme user.” One example of an extreme user would be a person who rejects compliance education and is generally disagreeable while also performing a sensitive work function that carries a high risk if noncompliance occurs. This person does not have the time to read the original laws and regulations and yet also does not read the compliance policies and procedures.
Extreme User
Under the design thinking methodology, a compliance professional may tailor education to this kind of extreme user by affirming the principle in the OIG Guidance that work performance is measured through compliance. A compliance professional may also clearly outline professional consequences for noncompliance, including termination, per the OIG Guidance.
Outliers
While this type of person is rare, it is helpful to include extreme hypothetical behavior within a compliance program, as the program will then be sure to encompass outliers. While design thinking can reach a wider audience than classical design, the use of technology to design a compliance outcome can reach a far greater audience. Technology can be modified to have controls built in so that extreme users that are outliers are not able to perform non-compliant actions.