I recently was at HCCA’s 27th Annual Compliance Institute, and among the many great sessions was one in which the discussion addressed the use of fear tactics in compliance training. Citing examples of organizations and people getting in trouble for violating laws can have its place in training and educational programs. But overdoing it can lead to some unexpected and adverse consequences.

I recall many instances in my days as an investigator in which a subject took specific actions to conceal their fraud or noncompliance. However, I also observed that in a few of these instances, the wrongdoing stopped after the noncompliance had been covered up.