This post, Lawmakers seek OSHA standard on workplace violence prevention in health care, first appeared on http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and 12 other House Democrats have introduced legislation intended to curb workplace violence in health care facilities. The Health Care Workplace Violence Prevention Act, introduced March 8, would direct OSHA to create a standard that would require health care facilities to develop and implement facility- and unit-specific workplace violence prevention plans. According to the […]

This post, HHS announces $3.5 million HIPAA settlement with Fresenius resolving five breach reports, first appeared on https://www.natlawreview.com/. Friday, February 2, 2018 Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA), a provider of products and services for people with chronic kidney failure, has agreed to pay $3.5 million to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and adopt a comprehensive corrective action plan to settle potential violations of the Health […]

This post, HHS releases limited HIPAA waiver during Hurricane Harvey: 5 things to know, first appeared on http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/. Written by Jessica Kim Cohen | August 30, 2017 HHS issued a limited waiver of HIPAA sanctions and penalties during Hurricane Harvey, which HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, declared a public health emergency in Texas Aug. 26 and Louisiana Aug. 28. The HIPAA Privacy Rule cannot be suspended during emergencies. However, the HHS secretary may waive certain provisions […]

This post, Recent Events Increase the Importance of HIPAA Risk Analyses and HIPAA Policies, first appeared on http://www.jdsupra.com/. August 23, 2017 Recent events highlight the fact that threats to customer and patient data continue to increase. In recent months, government agencies, news outlets, and others have spent considerable time investigating and reporting on major worldwide ransomware attacks, including the “Petya” and “WannaCry” events. Moreover, numerous companies have reported significant malware or security breach events, including InterContinental Hotels […]

This post, Palmetto Health fined for mishandling hazardous waste, first appeared on http://www.thestate.com/. By Jeff Wilkinson [email protected] August 15, 2017 1:32 PM The Palmetto Health Richland has been fined $28,000 by DHEC for mishandling hazardous materials. Among the violations were that hospital staff failed to keep containers holding hazardous waste closed during storage; failed to mark containers of hazardous waste; failed to maintain aisle space to allow the unobstructed movement of personnel and emergency equipment; and […]