An effective compliance program must focus on four critical areas: (i) program documentation, (ii) program implementation, (iii) third-party contracting, and (iv) ongoing monitoring and enforcement. As a result, the first step is to determine what documentation is necessary. Once you have a comprehensive understanding of your mental health practice's needs, then you can focus on building and implementing a program that your personnel can follow on an ongoing basis. Due to the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law, compliance must be a factor in third-party contracting as well. Finally, once everything is in place, then your efforts must shift to monitoring and enforcing compliance so that you can address any issues before the federal government comes calling.