The internet is flooded with blog posts, webinars, guides, data, “fixes,” frameworks, and best practices about building a resilient business and healthy company culture. But without veering into trite phrases, broad generalizations, or cliche corporate jargon, it can be difficult to know the tactical steps to build resiliency and maintain a healthy culture during difficult times, let alone a global pandemic. 

Our mission at Protenus is to advance the science of healthcare by bringing together creative and skilled individuals who are passionate about the security, usability, and applicability of health data. As this information becomes more voluminous, comprehensive, and, as a consequence, more vulnerable, we are building scalable, insightful solutions that address critical issues preventing the efficient, safe, and effective delivery of patient care.

Change—personal, professional, organizational—is always hard, whether it’s good or bad. Buying or selling a house, starting a new job, or having a baby: Whenever major changes occur, humans react with stress. So, too, the thought of “leaving your legacy behind”—going from a first-generation compliance program, which just a decade ago was a paradigm shift—is a tough, stressful decision. Those systems are rules-based, they still require labor-intensive review and analysis, and they still lead to many false-positive findings that ultimately cost time and money.

The just-released 2020 Protenus Diversion Digest™ highlights the ongoing toll clinical drug diversion takes on patients, healthcare workers, and healthcare organizations. The report covers data from incidents reported in 2019. Healthcare workers who steal or misuse controlled substances—from physician practices, clinics, pharmacies, hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other organizations—cause direct harm to patients and put their employers at risk for financial penalties and sanctions.

Each year, the UC Davis Health system serves tens of thousands of patients, both in its hospitals and outpatient clinics. Safeguarding patient records and managing the supply of controlled substances are among the many compliance and regulatory tasks with which the Compliance Office is charged. With the volume of compliance issues the office was identifying and investigating, the team wanted to be able to customize its investigation workflows based on the type of incident and adjust its processes accordingly.