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 […]

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) fiscal year (FY) 2019 final statistics show a significant increase in the number of inspections and a record amount of compliance assistance to further the mission of ensuring that employers provide workplaces free of hazards. OSHA’s enforcement activities reflect the department’s continued focus on worker safety. Federal OSHA conducted 33,401 inspections — more inspections than the previous three years — addressing violations related to […]

ATLANTA – When you go to the hospital, you’re probably not thinking that it is one of the most dangerous places to work. A recent study found one in four nurses has been assaulted on the job. Channel 2 Action News requested surveillance video that shows a patient using a pipe from his hospital bed to attack nurses. The attack took place at St. John’s Hospital in Minnesota in 2014. Police handcuffed the man and […]

Innocent people lose their lives on the job trying to protect others yet there remains little to no protection for them. In the healthcare and social services sector, violence against workers is a growing problem across the nation causing severe injuries and often resulting in death, making healthcare one of the most dangerous professions in which to work. “Workplace violence” is defined as “any act of violence or threat of violence, without regard to intent, that […]