In a blog post earlier this month, I talked about what exactly Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) really meant.  In that post, we put off the question of how to know if you were doing well at your GRC programs, and focused instead on how you might use policyIQ to be more efficient.

Today I'd like to take a moment to tell you about a policyIQ client who is clearly doing it well.  Named to Forbes Magazine's 100 Most Trustworthy Companies for 2010 with an impressive score, FPIC Insurance Group is doing a lot of things right when it comes to corporate governance.  We asked their management team to share with us the philosophies that they follow when it comes to corporate governance.

At FPIC Insurance Group, Inc., our vision is to be a consistently profitable, financially strong, and well-managed company that provides the best medical professional liability products and services to our customers and delivers long-term value to our shareholders. Our management team and Board of Directors are committed to achieving this vision for the benefit of our customers, employees and shareholders.

Ethical behavior is required and expected of each of our officers, directors and employees. We have adopted a Code of Conduct and Ethics, which sets forth specific corporate policies governing the conduct of our business. These policies were developed and are intended to be applied in good faith with reasonable business judgment to enable us to achieve our operating and financial goals within the framework of the law and good business practices.

Other important governance tools employed by us include:

• appropriate internal controls over accounting and financial reporting as well as appropriate "disclosure controls" to ensure proper public reporting;
• a robust internal audit program;
• close cooperation with outside auditors;
• an active Antifraud Policy and Program;
• systematic employee training with respect to our policies and programs;
• compliance officers responsible for the effectiveness of our policies and programs; and
• most importantly, active involvement and oversight by the Audit and Governance Committees of our Board of Directors and by our Board as a whole.

We continually review and enhance our corporate governance practices by benchmarking against accepted best practices and are pleased that on April 5, 2010, we were named by Forbes as one of "The 100 Most Trustworthy Companies" for having transparent and conservative accounting practices and prudent management.

Congratulations to the entire team at FPIC Insurance Group for the great work they have done, and continue to do, in the area of corporate governance!