In this edition, we take a closer look at compliance in the healthcare industry, and focus on questions arising from the fast-growing healthcare compliance system. Our first set of articles explicitly deals with that issue.

In this edition, we take a closer look at compliance in the healthcare industry, and focus on questions arising from the fast-growing healthcare compliance system. Our first setof articles explicitly deals with that issue.

The meaning of Corporate Governance is all values and principles guiding or regulating good and responsible business management. Clearly defined roles and responsibilities for managing compliance, risks and checks is the prerequisite for the latter. For that reason, a compliance management system was set up at the University Hospital Frankfurt in 2015.

This piece describes the journey of a student on a LawWithoutWalls ("LWOW") team that was charged with helping a large multinational defense firm, Lockheed Martin, solve this problem. This piece is not designed to teach the reader about supply chain management; instead, it will exemplify through a real-life experience how tough it is to teach people who are not compliance experts about the field’s complexities and, further, explore the difficulty in developing creative, practicable solutions to compliance problems.

German companies or German-based subsidiaries of international businesses may become subject of, or otherwise involved in, investigations by German or foreign regulatory or law enforcement authorities. In the context of such investigations, it is not unusual for the concerned company to face informal requests from German or foreign regulatory and law enforcement authorities for voluntary cooperation. Oftentimes, such requests focus on the transfer of electronic data for investigatory purposes, and such data typically relate, in whole or in part, to individuals (e.g. employees, suppliers and customers). In these and other cases, compliance of German companies or German-based subsidiaries with informal requests from regulatory and law enforcement authorities may itself entail a compliance risk or even constitute a breach by the corporate entity of the German data protection laws resulting in criminal prosecution, administrative sanctions, or damage claims and other actions by third party individuals. This article outlines the scope of application of the German Federal Data Protection Act, introduces the applicable statutory provisions, and discusses the relevant considerations in the context of an informal request by a regulatory or law enforcement authority for voluntary cooperation in the context of global investigations, in particular where a German-based entity faces requests from authorities abroad.

In light of the demanding requirements inherent to the operation of a university hospital, a multitude of compliance risks are entailed in the medical care, training, and research entail which such institutions are engaged in. If such risks materialize, the public will notice, which will substantially tarnish not only the public’s confidence in the proper functioning and the integrity of the impacted hospital, but ultimately, the whole German health care system. In examining the structural and requisite prevention protocols, three risk groups can be distinguished. The Düsseldorf University Hospital provides a leading example in the area of compliance management.

Conflicts of interest (COI) in healthcare have increasingly gained attention in the lay press as well as among healthcare professionals. COIs increase the risk of undue influence on professional decision making and may have far-reaching consequences in healthcare. Therefore, it is essential to develop strategies to deal with such risk situations in order to prevent negative outcomes for patients and the health care system. This article describes recent research on COIs in Germany as well as initiatives aiming at more transparency and better management of COIs in Germany.

The Munich Compliance Talk entitled "Legal Privilege – What is its use actually about?" took place on April 26th, 2016 at the Literaturhaus Munich. At this event, which has been organized together by the Deutschen AnwaltSpiegel – Gruppe and Recommind, compliance professionals, namely lawyers, employees of in-house legal departments, compliance officers and compliance managers have been present. The conference program included impulsive lectures by the experts Dr. Burkhard Schmitt1 (Vice President, Head of EMEIA Compliance at Fujitsu, Munich) and Patrick Späth2, LL.M. (Counsel of WilmerHale in Berlin). Emphasis was – among other things - placed on the legal framework of legal privilege. Moreover the focus was on the company's point of view, thus the question, how to deal with legal privilege in the company.

This paper studies the innovation and strategy used by Tawan¡¦s small and medium size of hospitals and clinics to break the revenue control by national health insurance. We found that to increase the competitive advantage and to compete with the non-for-profit hospital conglomerates, many small and medium size of hospitals and clinics either form alliance with other clinics or conduct chain operation to enjoy the economy of scale and economy of scope. Through case studies, this paper found the many characteristics for a successful healthcare chain operation to succeed in Taiwan. We found that the chain operation needs to have enough resource to expand on her own or need to have enough incentive for the franchisee to join the franchise organization. One effective attraction provided by the franchise organization is to have an effective training platform for the franchisees to grow their business. Another key factor for a healthcare franchise organization to succeed is the ability to do vertical integration within the same chain operation. Conducting asset swap with franchisee¡¦ hospital or clinic and let franchisees own part of the franchise organization¡¦s stock are effective strategy to attract independent hospital or clinic to join the franchise organization. Therefore, a successful healthcare franchise organization will almost want to pursue a stock listing in Taiwan or abroad. In particular, we study the business models for Missioncare medical group in Taoyuan and Darwin healthcare group in Taichung and Dr. Wells group in Taipei. Both Darwin and Dr. Well operate successful chain operation for dental clinics in Taiwan. We compare and contrast their business models and through the financial analysis, we summarize the pros and cons for each business model. Our key contribution for this paper is to identify the key factors for a Medical chain operation to succeed in Taiwan. Once the profitable business model is established, new hospitals or clinics could be set up quickly based on existing models and expenditures could be minimized through joint procurement and resource sharing.

The aging population in the United States and greater access to healthcare due to recent legislative reforms will result in an increased demand for registered nurses. However, meeting this demand will challenge healthcare organizations due to an aging nursing workforce that will be retiring, a lack of new nurses entering the profession due to lack of employment opportunities related to the current macro-economic environment, and the lack of capacity to produce nursing graduates. Furthermore, reported turnover rates of newly graduated registered nurses range from 18 to 60% during the first year of employment. Healthcare organizations implementing structured nurse residency programs have reported success in stemming the tide of new graduate turnover. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence in the nurse residency literature regarding variables that have been shown to decrease turnover of registered nurses. The purpose of this study was to examine the outcome variables of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover among newly graduated nurse residents in Magnet, Magnet Aspiring, and Non-Magnet Hospital work environments across the US. A descriptive correlational retrospective secondary analysis was completed examining the outcome variables in a sample of 628 newly graduated nurses completing a structured nurse residency program between January 1, 2007 and December 31st, 2009 in general acute care hospitals. The findings from this study demonstrated the difference between job satisfaction at two months, six months, and 12 months among nurse residents in the different work environments. Furthermore, the influence of the residency program on organizational commitment in the context of differing work environments is reported. Moreover, turnover rates following the completion of the nurse residency were found to be lower than the national average for newly graduated nurses. Finally, the relationships between the outcome variables are explicated. The findings of this study will assist in informing healthcare executive’s decision making when considering interventions to decrease turnover of newly graduated nurses. / text