Raise your hand if you love HR audits. Going over policies and procedures, documents and credentials, and then making sure it all follows the rules, it’s no practice owner’s idea of a good time. But with the right HR audit preparation approach, it becomes a manageable process that actually strengthens your practice. You got this.
What are the Different Types of HR Audits?
An HR audit is both a protective measure and an improvement opportunity. But before you get started, there are a few types of audits you need to familiarize yourself with.
Internal vs. External Audits
Internal audits are voluntary HR compliance reviews that you set up yourself. Without being instructed by the powers that be, you can identify and correct any issues before they snowball. Do them when it makes sense for your practice, but it’s a very smart idea to do an internal audit whenever laws update, or when you make a big change like a merger. They’re also a great way to build internal expertise and really understand the goings-on of your HR processes.
External audits involve hiring third-party consultants to conduct objective assessments of your HR practices. Government agency audits from the Department of Labor (DOL) or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) represent the most serious type. It’s not always a matter of being at fault, although government audits may be triggered by problems. Sometimes it’s just random selection.
In either case, the role of HR in healthcare becomes extremely apparent when working through an audit and catching up on their specific requirements.
Triggered vs. Routine Audits
A routine HR audit is a regular compliance check. Nothing is wrong, necessarily, and random compliance checks like these occur as part of government oversight. They’re more common among practices with federal contracts or those that have had previous violations.
A triggered audit stems from a specific incident, breach, compliance failure, or risk that has already come to light. Allegations of discrimination, wage violations, or safety issues have a good chance of triggering a visit from an auditor. This is why internal audits are so important — you can be the first to know (and deal with) any potential issues.
Now, let’s get you ready for a healthy HR compliance review, whatever form it takes.
HR Audit Preparation How-To
You don’t have to be scared of an audit, but you should be prepared. It’s less stressful that way, and being prepared demonstrates your commitment to employment law compliance.
Create Your Audit Response Team
Designate a point person to coordinate audit communications, document requests, and know who’s doing what when. Assign team members specific areas of responsibility based on their expertise. You should also identify legal counsel who can help with healthcare employment law and provide guidance through this process. Yep, you might need a lawyer.
Establish Timeline and Scope
Set realistic deadlines for gathering documents and reviewing them. Things will come up, so build in a little more time than you think you need. Focus on compliance weak spots, and make sure you have enough people for support. Along the way, document your process to demonstrate good faith compliance efforts.
Your HR dashboard can help track progress and ensure nothing falls through the cracks during this phase.
Review Employee Personnel Files
Employee file audits are a systematic review of each and every team member’s documentation. This includes:
- Complete I-9 forms with proper supporting documents
- Signed offer letters and employment agreements
- Current job descriptions matching actual duties
- Performance evaluation records with supervisor signatures
- Disciplinary action documentation with dates and witness information
- Training certificates, credentials, and continuing education records
- Emergency contact information and beneficiary forms
HR for Health stores all these documents safely in the cloud so you’re not scrambling at audit time.
Collect Payroll and Compensation Records
In a payroll audit, healthcare practices handling paperwork manually might have a hard time finding everything they need. In this industry, shift schedules can be a moving target, and people may be on-call or work multiple rates of pay. Still, review wage and hour compliance including timekeeping accuracy, proper overtime calculations, meal and rest break documentation, and pay equity.
A good data-driven performance management setup helps you maintain accurate and objective records — exactly what auditors love to see.
Check Your Handbook and Policies
Your handbook is your first line of defense, so it needs to be up to date on federal, state, and local requirements. It should address healthcare-specific issues like patient confidentiality and clinical protocols, it should have a sparkling clean update history, and all the employee signatures should all be accounted for. That’s a lot to maintain, which is why HR for Health keeps it all updated for you, even when the rules change.
HR Compliance Review: Sticky Spots for Practices
If you’ve been reading our blog, you know we really really want you to stay compliant! There’s a lot of rules and regulations to follow, and these are the ones practice owners tend to get stuck on.
HIPAA and Privacy Compliance
Healthcare practice audits almost always include HIPAA compliance review. You handle sensitive patient information every day, so it’s only natural. Pull together employee training records that include HIPAA education and annual refresher trainings. Review your privacy policy and make sure you have signed-off confidentiality agreements.
Clinical Staff Credentialing and Licensing
Your team interacts with patients, so detailed credentialing documentation for clinical staff is a non-negotiable. Check professional license verification, including status, expiration dates, renewals, and CE requirements. HR for Health will notify you before they expire.
Safety and OSHA Compliance
Review workplace safety training records like bloodborne pathogen education, emergency procedures, and equipment training. Then, examine incident reporting procedures with completed forms, investigation reports, and corrective action plans. Supporting employee development in healthcare includes ongoing safety education and skills development programs.
Wage and Hour Compliance
Wage and hour violations are unbelievably common, especially in health and dental, and doubly especially in states like California. You’ll need a rock-solid time tracker, a reliable way to calculate overtime, reminders for rest and meal break compliance, and done-for-you math on multiple rates of pay. HR for Health has it covered.
Documentation Gaps and Inconsistencies
Missing required forms like I-9s or W-4s, incomplete employee files lacking performance reviews or training records, and outdated policies and procedures that don’t reflect current legal requirements are compliance gaps. Get yourself on schedule and keep your paperwork sorted.
Compliance Means Continuous Improvement
So you’ve gone through the audit process and you have some work to do. By now you’ve realized that a great HR solution makes a big difference, and that preparation makes it all a lot less stressful.
Speaking of preparation, if you’re ready to upgrade your healthcare HR compliance with automatically up-to-date documentation, payroll, timekeeping, people management, plus expert guidance when you need it, you’re in the right place. HR for Health was built precisely to help practices like yours get and stay compliant.
