Imagine waking up one day as a respected mental health professional, clinic owner, or healthcare executive. Your schedule is full, your clients trust you, and your team depends on you. You’ve spent years training, running your business, and working to help other people. But things change by nightfall. Not because of bad care or malpractice, but because of something you never saw coming: a mistake in the law, a rule violation, or a business law you didn’t even know about. This isn’t a very dramatic “what if” situation. For too many providers, this is real life. And the worst part? Most of them didn’t do anything “wrong,” at least not in an ethical way. They just didn’t know how to keep themselves safe from the system they thought would help them do their jobs. Welcome to the harsh truth behind Janice Wrenn’s book Provide 2 Protect: Fighting In A Scheme For Justice. This book isn’t just a book; it’s a wake-up call.
The false sense of safety in healthcare
Your job as a provider is to help people. You chose this job to help people, heal them, and make a difference. You probably think that if you follow the rules set by your licensing board, stay honest, and pay your taxes, you’re safe. But here’s the truth: ethics don’t mean you are safe from the law. You are not legally safe just because you mean well. A lot of healthcare workers think that their malpractice insurance, their administrative staff, or their HR policies will keep them safe from harm. And even though those things help, they aren’t enough. Why? The real threat is what you don’t know. The clause in the contract that was missed. The wrong code for billing. The policies that are no longer in effect. The assistant who hasn’t been trained. The assumed compliance. Overnight, these things can lead to lawsuits, fines, license suspensions, and worse.
The Day Everything Changed
Provide 2 Protect by Janice Wrenn is based on real events, not theories or what-ifs. One of the most important things the book says is that a provider’s whole career can fall apart in a single day because of something they didn’t understand or thought was “handled.” Legal problems don’t always come from gross negligence or bad intent. At times, it’s:
- Charging for a service under the wrong code (even once).
- Putting employees in the wrong category as contractors.
- Not remembering to change a policy to follow new state rules.
- Not knowing how the laws about telehealth changed after COVID.
- Letting a third-party billing company handle everything without any oversight.
It’s too late to fix it when the licensing board calls or the auditors come. You’re not just dealing with paperwork; you’re also facing lawsuits, fines, and possibly even criminal charges. You are a provider for one moment. Next, you’re the defendant.
What’s at stake?
To be clear, this isn’t just about money. It’s about:
- Your license is the most important part of your career.
- Your reputation, which takes years to build and seconds to ruin.
- Your team, who could lose their jobs if the clinic closes.
- Your clients, who suddenly don’t have a provider or support.
- Your legacy: all the years of work, sacrifice, and purpose gone.
That’s why the message of Provide 2 Protect is so important: You can’t afford to not know.
Five Things Every Provider Should Know
Here are the lessons that healthcare workers need to learn before it’s too late:
- Legal Literacy Is Required
You are a business owner first, whether you own a clinic or work alone. That means knowing the laws about healthcare, work, privacy, billing, and operations at both the state and federal levels.
Don’t just trust your lawyer, accountant, or admin. Learn the basics. Go to workshops. Look over your contracts. Ask questions. Not knowing isn’t a good reason to not go to court.
- You are responsible for what other people do in your name.
Delegation doesn’t get rid of responsibility. You are still responsible if your staff makes a mistake when coding a claim or if your billing company sends in false claims. Make systems for checking, training, and keeping an eye on things. It’s not always true that someone is doing something right or legally just because they say they know what they’re doing.
- Compliance must happen all the time, not just once.
You can’t just be compliant once when you open your doors. Laws are not set in stone. Changes to HIPAA rules. Rules for getting paid back change. People come and go. If you don’t keep learning new things and updating your systems, you’re putting yourself at risk. Don’t just check off compliance; make it a part of your culture.
- Don’t think that good intentions will keep you safe.
This might be the hardest lesson to learn: it doesn’t matter how good you are if you break the rules, even if you don’t mean to. The law isn’t meant to judge your heart; it’s meant to judge your actions and your papers. Being a kind, honest, and passionate provider won’t keep you from going to court. There will be paper trails.
- To stay alive, you need a plan, not feelings.
It’s easy to feel sad, ashamed, or angry when something bad happens. But you need a clear plan to stay alive. Know what your rights are. Have a team of lawyers ready. Become a member of professional groups. Write a plan for what to do in an emergency before you need it. Janice Wrenn’s book doesn’t just show you how to avoid disaster; it also shows you how to get through it. Because bad things do happen, and how you rebuild is what matters most.
You Are Your Own First Line of Defence
The main point of Provide 2 Protect is both simple and serious:
“The same source that gives you things and keeps you safe can also hurt you.”
The systems you depend on, like billing systems, insurance companies, and regulatory boards, don’t always work in your favor. You need to take steps to protect yourself. No one else will do it for you. Not your coworkers. Not your boss at work. Not your board of licensing. You don’t have to be afraid all the time. It means being aware of your surroundings. You can still care for others, run a successful business, and stay true to your calling. But only if you also take the time to protect that calling.
Last Thoughts
You didn’t become a provider so you could study law or defend yourself in court. But as soon as you opened your business or started seeing clients, you took on responsibilities that go far beyond therapy sessions and treatment plans. You can’t control everything. But you can do things today that might save your whole career tomorrow. Begin with learning. Make systems that are strong. Read the small print. And if you haven’t already, read Provide 2 Protect: Fighting In A Scheme For Justice. Because one day shouldn’t ruin everything you’ve worked for. But it can happen if you’re not ready.