HRSA Compliance is Vital to Health Care Agencies

HRSA-compliant health care agencies receive many benefits, from Medicare and Medicaid funding to discounted drugs and other resources. Failure to remain HRSA-compliant could result in revoked funding.

Staying HRSA-Compliant Doesn't Have to be Hard

From creating a HRSA audit folder to tracking, there are several ways for health care organizations to be prepared when audit day arrives. Accurate meeting minutes, secure safety data, and meeting analytics also help the cause.

Board Management Software Makes it Happen

Secure messaging, granular permissions, two-factor authentication, and remote lock and wipe are all tools any good board management portal should have to help your health care board communicate its HRSA compliance needs securely.

Staying HRSA-Compliant with OnBoard

Webinar Recap: OnBoard Health Care Consultant Jacqueline Frey and Solutions Consultant Rob Lingelbaugh discuss how health care organizations can use board management software to ease the burden of HRSA audits.

Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) provide health care for patients most in need, including low-income or rural areas. Without these important centers and programs, these patients could have major gaps in care.

Many of these centers are federally funded through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which supports nearly 1,400 health centers and collectively operates more than 14,000 service delivery sites in communities across the United States. In 2021, more than 30 million people were served through these organizations.

In order to maintain funding, organizations that are credentialed by HRSA must undergo periodic audits, which can be stressful and time-consuming. It’s imperative that they stay organized so audits are seamless and auditors have the necessary information.

OnBoard has served more than 250 health care customers and 100 hospitals, and has helped many FQHC organizations, including Broward Health, Denver Health, and CentraCare, among others.

The Importance of Staying HRSA-Compliant

HRSA health centers receive many benefits, including reimbursement through the centers for Medicaid and Medicare, discounted drugs, free vaccines for uninsured and underinsured children, recruitment help, and training resources.

During period audits, organizations will be required to submit a variety of paperwork, which could include:

Details from the General Ledger
Financial statements
Policies and procedures documents
A description of your procurement process
Listing of patient care revenue by payer
Detailed inventory listing of IT supplies
Board minutes
Other sources of funding
Listing of expenses reimbursed with the other assistance received
Documentation of lost revenue methodologies
CMS cost reports for Medicare and Medicaid

If an organization fails the audit, it could be liable to manufacturers for refunds of discounts or have their funding revoked.

Also, the communities the organizations serve would be deeply impacted because tens of millions of Americans rely on these facilities for their health care needs.

Tips for Streamlining HRSA Audits

Since HRSA audits can take hours, there are ways to streamline them with board management software like OnBoard.

Create a HSRA-Audit Folder

Creating a specific folder for all HRSA audit documents will save your organization time and money because you’ll be organized when audit time comes. Using software with drag-and-drop functionality and document organization will make it easier. OnBoard has an unlimited storage repository for all your documents and will help you organize those folders within the repository. These documents can include your board minutes, consolidated statement of income, financial book, and other documents. Additionally, you can give the auditor direct access to their folder without sharing sensitive board material.

Tracking

Tracking is vital for HRSA audits. The auditor will look for the most up-to-date documents, and you’ll want to ensure version control. With document tracking, you can track all policies—a new policy, bylaws, anything of that nature—and see when it was added, the votes for that policy, and any updates.

Accurate Meeting Minutes

Having accurate meeting minutes, including results of live votes and attendance, will not only keep your center organized but provide archives for the audit. “An important topic for that HRSA compliance is ensuring that all your minutes are real-time and that they’re archived correctly,” Frey said.

OnBoard provides easy compliance because users can track attendance, any key actions that have occurred during the meeting or prior to the meeting, and any decisions made during the meeting for accurate reference during an audit. This way, all key decisions are tracked appropriately.

Track Voting Accurately and in Real Time

With board management software, you can organize, track, and review decisions, including establishing and adopting new policies or changes like acknowledging bylaws, CEO selection, or dismissal processes. Then you can archive those votings and approvals and keep them nicely organized in the HRSA folder.

Board Lifecycle Management

Board Evaluations are critical to understanding if your board members are effective and accountable. With OnBoard, you can launch your annual board assessments (which we can help you create) easily and automatically. You can also streamline the skills tracking process, and you can see within your board and a specific committee where you’re missing some important skill sets on the board (or audit committee).

Meeting Analytics

With meeting analytics, you can see meeting details, understand where members spend most of their time within the board book, and see if they’re holding up their end of the bargain regarding being a board member and engaging. Members can invite other members on the board to discuss various topics in the board book and annotate in the board book.

Safeguard Sensitive Data

Data breaches happen often, and it’s imperative that your sensitive documents are secure. At OnBoard, we are backed by industry-leading Microsoft Azure. Our data centers are held here in the United States, and we also have a backup data center, so your data is safe and secure. Our software is also independently-verified and is ISO 27001 certified, SOC2 compliant, HIPAA compliant, and ISO 27701 certified.

Important Security Features in Your Board Management Software

“The HRSA audit not only takes a lot of time to prepare for, but it’s stressful, and there are a lot of things in play,” Frey said. “Having a platform that can easily organize all of your documents that these auditors are going to be looking for is critical.”

Not only do you want software that has secure audit access, but you want full security within the software itself. These features include:

Face and Touch ID and 2-Factor Authentication: These provide an extra layer of security so only those with access can read your sensitive information.
Remote Lock and Wipe: If a board member misplaces their iPad or laptop, you can remotely wipe the app so sensitive data is not found.
Secure Messenger: While email and text are easy, they’re not secure. Messenger ensures that messages are in one place, and are seen by the intended recipient.
Granular Permissions: Not everyone in your organization needs access to everything. This allows you to share data only with the people who need it, and share the audit folder with the auditor outside your organiuzation.

If you’re ready to make your HRSA audit easier with software, OnBoard is a HIPAA- and HRSA-compliant board portal designed to enhance governance, improve decision-making, and uncover key insights, with a 99.2% retention rate, and a 100% satisfaction rating with in-house technical support.

Unlock Superior Board Governance

Streamline your board meetings and unlock valuable insights with OnBoard’s powerful platform. Experience the difference of secure, efficient, and intuitive board management software designed for success.