If you were to imagine a list of risky jobs, you might think of being a construction worker, a prison officer, an oil rig worker – anything that involves heights or challenging environments. Being a surgeon might not be top of the list. However, new research shows that in fact an overwhelming majority of surgeons have had a close encounter with a serious risk to their health and safety: a sharp, or needlestick injury. The […]

We all know that doctors and nurses work long hours under trying conditions, particularly in hospital emergency rooms, to save lives and bring healing and comfort to the sick.   What too many people do not know is that healthcare workers face a potential silent killer every day that is so common it is routinely overlooked and ignored: accidental needlesticks.   Every year in the United States, more than 400 million blood draws are performed. Some of […]

Recently, the House of Representatives passed a bill, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Healthcare and Social Service Workers Act. This bill, as the name suggests, seeks to provide legal protections to health care workers from workplace violence. The passing of this bill did not create much fanfare; we did not see any coverage of it on the evening news, nor was it mentioned by any of the presidential candidates. We are here to tell you […]

ORLANDO, FLORIDA—A nationwide effort to improve and coordinate patient safety measures will strive to make a connection between workplace and patient safety.   The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) gave an update during its National Forum this week on the creation of a national patient safety plan intended to encourage better coordination of safety efforts. A key goal of the plan, expected to be released next year, was to emphasize the role of improving workforce […]

HIPAA compliance services are an extremely profitable value-add you can provide to your customer base.   There are millions of American companies that don’t realize they have a HIPAA compliance problem. They’re not doctor’s offices or medical labs or hospitals or insurance companies, so many falsely believe HIPAA doesn’t apply to them.   HIPAA, after all, is shorthand for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, so if your core business isn’t delivering […]

HIPAA isn’t as cut and dry as some might have you believe, and many healthcare agencies violate it without realizing they’ve done so. Unfortunately, ignorance is no excuse. You need to make sure you are aware of some of the more common blind spots – that way, you can avoid fumbling into them yourself. The digitization of healthcare has done some amazing things for both staff and patients. Unfortunately, it’s also introduced a huge laundry […]