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.

Research report presented to SBL, Unisa, Midrand. / No abstract

Reimbursement Decree and DRG mechanism and their influence on acute in-patient care Abstract The thesis focuses on Czech reimbursement mechanisms and their influence on volume of healthcare provided. The main Czech reimbursement legal documents are presented and formalized and their influence on volume of provided care tested. The thesis also offers a discussion of possible ineffectiveness which may be caused by the reimbursement decree for 2012. Keywords: healthcare, DRG, reimbursement mechanism

Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering / Fred Hasler and Russ Murdock / The correlation between natural and artificial lighting and the human circadian rhythm was researched to determine how changing artificial lighting design could improve the working environment in healthcare facilities. Research showed that human circadian rhythm is largely influenced by daylight and the accompanying light color (CCT) change in a day. Consequently, healthcare providers who are not exposed to daylight are isolated from this natural indicator. This can disjoint their circadian cycles from a normal rhythm and lead to physiological and psychological complications. Daylighting and standard artificial lighting design conditions were observed at Mercy Regional Medical Center (MRMC) in Manhattan, Kansas,. Then, healthcare providers at MRMC were anonymously surveyed about their perceived alertness throughout a typical working shift . The data was charted and plotted against a normal circadian rhythm to demonstrate whether a normal or disjointed cycle was experienced by healthcare providers. The comparison of this data to observed lighting conditions exhibited the necessary influence of daylight on achieving a normal circadian rhythm. This study reinforced the information available from many other sources connecting healthcare lighting and the circadian rhythm. Working on this premise, research suggested two lighting designs that would improve the working environment in healthcare facilities. The first of these would be the inclusion of circadian rooms. Special rooms in a healthcare facility would be available to staff in order to provide light therapy. Short wavelength blue light, experienced at optimal times throughout a shift, would act as stimulants (similar to daylight cues), adjusting employees' circadian cycles to normal when daylight exposure was unattainable. Alternately, a healthcare facility working on set, not-staggered, shifts could incorporate a variable lighting system. This system would rely on specialized lights to alter light color (CCT) throughout a shift to mimic daylight rhythms. Accordingly, staff would be exposed to daylighting cues from artificial sources and experience normal circadian rhythms.