The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Georgetown Dental LLC in Georgetown, Massachusetts, for violating respiratory protection and other standards, according to an OSHA news release. OSHA cited the dental practice for six serious violations and one other-than-serious violation, with proposed penalties of $9,500, the release stated. The company has paid the penalty in full and abated the citations. OSHA cited the dental practice for failing to provide medical evaluations […]

On Aug. 25, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule (IFR) as an emergency regulation under the public health emergency (PHE). Under the IFR, CMS will require all hospitals to which the requirements of 42 CFR part 482 apply — including short-term acute care hospitals, long-term care (LTC) hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, cancer hospitals, children’s hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) — to provide the U.S. Department of […]

From medical respirators to plastic takeout containers, medical professionals and city leaders are working to mitigate the waste created by COVID-19 in Santa Barbara County. At the Cottage hospitals, 3,400 N95 respirators have been sterilized onsite and are being stored for reuse if needed in the future, according to Maria Zate, manager of public relations at Cottage Health. “Medical waste is handled according to Centers for Disease Control guidelines. Most personal protective equipment [PPE] must […]

As healthcare organizations do battle against COVID-19, they also must stay on vigilant defense against cybercriminals intent on taking advantage of the crisis to sow chaos and disrupt clinical processes: barraging inboxes with pandemic-themed phishing emails, perpetrating hospital-crippling ransomware attacks, taking aim at public health agencies and vaccine research facilities. Meanwhile, there are new places to safeguard and secure – whether they’re hastily-erected ad hoc field hospitals or massively scaled up telehealth deployments. And fast-expanding […]

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) violations are quite common and are happening every day – inadvertently or due to lack of proper HIPAA compliance. But why is HIPAA compliance so necessary for the US healthcare system? What does it protect? What are the most common HIPAA violations and what are the consequences? Let’s find out. HIPAA – Why is it necessary? One of the most crucial pieces of information in the US healthcare […]

A number of social media posts attribute a fabricated quote about the dangers of wearing face-coverings to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA does recommend the use of face-coverings per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance. The extract of the post referring to OSHA reads “(SIC) OSHA… Wearing Masks Longer Than 20 Min Without Changing Them Out Dangerously Increases Infection Rates, Increases Co2 Levels & Significantly Decreases Oxygen Levels […]

RALEIGH, N.C. – Privacy experts say when health officials claim they’re not allowed to release certain information about the COVID-19 pandemic, they’re usually right. Medical privacy laws are in the spotlight as COVID-19 continues to ravage the country. In some cases, people have taken to social media to make claims about HIPAA, such as forbidding transportation network companies from requiring face masks in cars. Those claims are false. HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and […]

Thousands have complained to OSHA about unsafe working conditions due to Covid-19. OSHA has not inspected a single workplace. NPR’s Scott Simon speaks with Deborah Berkowitz, a former agency official. Transcript: The mission of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, known as OSHA, is to protect American workers. But many health care workers, factory workers, transit workers and others have said they do not feel protected during this pandemic. What has OSHA been doing? Deborah […]

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a truly unprecedented and challenging time for millions of us across the country.   Yet I’m so inspired by the leadership, dedication, and—perhaps most important—resilience of our nursing colleagues on the frontlines treating and caring for patients day after day.   I’ve been thinking a lot about resilience, what it means, and why it’s more important than ever for nurses.   Here are five of my recent resilience-related thoughts:   Endurance […]

The right to privacy has always been heavily debated, especially because the Constitution does not provide any definitive right of privacy. But the battle regarding privacy in healthcare seemed to have been resolved with the passing of the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in 1996. However, reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and other agencies suspended important aspects of HIPAA and Congress passed the, ‘Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and […]