In my last post, I described the need for organizations seeking NCQA accreditation to present the survey team with carefully thought-out and easy-to-understand documentation of compliance.
This time I want to focus on the Statement of Compliance.
The Statement of Compliance is another component of NCQA’s new Documentation Preparation Guidelines.
The Statement of Compliance is used to “tell your story.” Nobody knows your processes better than you do. While you may think that the documents speak for themselves, trust me, they usually do not!
You need to “pull it together” for the survey team. Tell them what the documents mean and how they fit together as evidence of compliance.
Anticipate questions and address them in the Statement of Compliance. For example, if you include a copy of your practitioner newsletter as evidence of informing practitioners about a specific requirement, you need to tell the surveyors how the newsletter is distributed. Is it in hard copy? Does it get mailed to each and every practitioner? Do some practitioners receive an email version? What if you do not have email addresses for each practitioner?
The important question to answer with the Statement of Compliance is HOW.
How do we comply with the standard? How do the documents demonstrate that compliance?
Do not use the Statement of Compliance to simply say “We do, x, y, or z.” You need to say HOW you do x, y, or z.
With better preparation you just might find that your survey outcome improves.
