Medicare accrediting organization The Compliance Team Inc. (TCT), the nation’s only woman-owned healthcare accreditation organization to hold Medicare “deeming authority” to accredit DMEPOS providers, is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
The firm was founded in 1994 by president, Sandra Canally, RN, who is the principal author and architect of TCT’s Exemplary Provider programs, and its respective Safety-Honesty-Caring quality standards. Canally incorporated the firm as a self-funded independent healthcare evaluation enterprise.
“From the outset, I focused on accreditation simplification,” the former Nurse Oncologist explained. “My intent was to make it easier for everyone within an organization to buy into the process by combining a readily recognizable quality branding message with a third-party validated accreditation tool.”
Canally’s efforts led to accreditation innovations such as the industry’s first sets of plain language service and product-line specific quality standards that are structured around an organization’s day-to-day patient care and business practices. TCT also began offering no-cost access to individualized implementation mentoring; access to policy and documentation templates; and a web portal for uploading patient satisfaction reports and peer-to-peer benchmarking.
TCT vice president of Operations Steve Simmerman, who has known Canally since the early 1990s, gave his perspective on the firm’s origin:
“Sandy started by taking on DMEPOS accreditation consulting assignments,” he recalled. “Then she landed managed care contracts that ranged in scope from physician network credentialing to developing Medicaid patient quality measures. Her spare time was spent at Philadelphia-area law libraries and book stores doing research, critical thinking and writing,” he observed.
The Exemplary Provider program was launched in 1998, and was soon followed by the firm’s Major managed care recognition, which started in March 1999. In addition to all DMEPOS providers, the Compliance Team offers Exemplary Provider accreditation for Rural Health Clinic; Critical Access Hospital; Retail Clinic; Physician Practice; Infusion/ Specialty/ LTC, DMEPOS and Retail Pharmacy; Sleep Care Management; Ocularist; Home Health/ Hospice; and Private Duty (non-medical) Agencies.
For more information, visit www.thecomplianceteam.org.