Safety & Compliance

Safety in Simplicity: Helping Surgeons Work Without Fear of Infection

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 […]

Read More

Accidental Needlesticks: The Silent Killer

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 […]

Read More

The dangers of being a doctor: threatened by those who seek help

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 […]

Read More

Health systems must tackle workplace, patient safety in tandem, IHI says

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 […]

Read More

Don’t Let Lack of HIPAA Compliance Make Your Business Sick

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 […]

Read More

3 big HIPAA blind spots you need to address

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 […]

Read More

OSHA Enforcement And Compliance Increased In 2019

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 […]

Read More

Punches, broken bones and more: 1 in 4 nurses are attacked on the job, study says

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 […]

Read More

Healthcare Remains America’s Most Dangerous Profession Due To Workplace Violence

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 […]

Read More

House Passes Healthcare Workplace Violence Bill

A bill mandating a federal workplace violence prevention standard for healthcare and social services passed the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1309), would require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to establish an interim standard within 1 year, a proposed standard within 2 years, and a final standard within 4 years. The standard called for in the bill would require […]

Read More