Company: THC
Filing Date: 2025-02-18
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000070318-25-000009
Chunk: 88

Company: TENET HEALTHCARE CORP
Filing Date: 2025-02-18
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 88
---
 which could be significant. Moreover, our offshore operations could expose us to foreign political and economic instability, compliance and regulatory challenges, and natural disasters not typically experienced in the United States, such as volcanic activity and tsunamis.

COMPLIANCE AND ETHICS

General—Our ethics and compliance department maintains our values‑based ethics and compliance program, which is designed to: (1) help staff in our corporate and USPI offices, hospitals, outpatient centers and physician practices meet or exceed applicable standards established by federal and state statutes and regulations, as well as industry practice; (2) monitor and raise awareness of ethical issues among employees and others, and stress the importance of understanding and complying with our Code of Conduct; and (3) provide a channel for employees to make confidential ethics and compliance‑related reports, anonymously if they choose. The ethics and compliance department operates independently – it has its own operating budget; it has the authority to hire outside counsel, access any company document and interview any of our personnel; and our chief compliance officer reports directly to our chief executive officer, as well as to the quality, compliance and ethics committee of our board of directors.

Program Charter—Our Quality, Compliance and Ethics Program Charter is the governing document for our ethics and compliance program. Our adherence to the charter is intended to:

•support and maintain our present and future responsibilities with regard to participation in federal healthcare programs; and

•further our goals of operating an organization that (1) fosters and maintains the highest ethical standards among all employees, officers and directors, physicians practicing at our facilities, and contractors that furnish healthcare items or services, (2) values compliance with all state and federal statutes and regulations as a foundation of its corporate philosophy, and (3) aligns its behaviors and decisions with Tenet’s core values.

The primary focus of our quality, compliance and ethics program is compliance with the requirements of Medicare, Medicaid and other federally funded healthcare programs. Pursuant to the terms of the charter, our ethics and compliance department is responsible for, among other things, the following activities: (1) assessing, critiquing, and (as appropriate) drafting and distributing company policies and procedures; (2) developing, providing, and tracking ethics and compliance training and other training programs, including job‑specific training to those who work in clinical quality, coding, billing, cost reporting and referral source arrangements, in collaboration with the respective department responsible for oversight of each of these areas