A set of regulatory changes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will affect optometric practices and clinics starting Aug. 21, according to the American Optometric Association.   Hazardous waste pharmaceutical (HWP) management standards will prohibit healthcare facilities from disposing of such wastes down the drain, AOA reports. The standards apply to all healthcare facilities, irrespective of size or waste generation.   The rules are intended to “reduce the environmental and human health risks associated with […]

The threat of workplace violence is a growing risk to businesses of all sizes across the United States. According to the National Safety Council, there were more than 18,000 reported cases of workplace assaults and 458 cases of workplace homicides in 2017, the latest year for which data is available.  That’s an average of 49 assaults and 1.3 homicides occurring in the workplace each day. Despite this, understanding the causes of workplace violence, assessing the […]

In many healthcare facilities, nurses are the employees with the most direct contact with patients. They are the ones holding a woman’s hand and providing emotional support during labor. They are the ones changing dressings and swapping out bedpans. They are the ones comforting family members during a loved one’s health battles. This also means they are often the target of patient violence. Healthcare employees, particularly nurses, are at an increased risk for workplace violence. […]

Late last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sought feedback from the healthcare community on a draft guideline, Infection Control in Healthcare Personnel: Infrastructure and Routine Practices for Occupational Infection Prevention and Control Services. Specifically, the CDC is looking to “facilitate the provision of occupational infection prevention and control services to healthcare personnel and to prevent transmission of infections between healthcare personnel and others.” The CDC is updating two sections addressing protocol […]

Among her many well-known quotes, Florence Nightingale gave us a simple but meaningful one that has resonated over the centuries: “For the sick it is important to have the best.” Then, as now, providing the best patient care calls for having the best nurses with the best training and the best staffing — also known as nurse staffing and patient safety. These three — along with advanced and continuing education, appropriate orientation and training, and good […]

Health system executives are finding it difficult to stay ahead of the multiple trends culminating at once—reimbursement pressures, rising drug costs, regulatory complexity (340B), and the central role of pharmacy in value-based care.   Ed Francis, a senior director of life sciences at West Monroe Partners, says changes in drug pricing represents a particularly important issue that health executives will need to watch out for in the coming year, starting with optimizing the drug rebate system. […]

This post, We Could All Learn a Lot From ‘HIPAA 101’, first appeared on https://www.workforce.com. by Andie Burjek The Edelman Trust Barometer for 2019 revealed some interesting points about trust in health care.   Lynn Hanessian, chief strategist at Edelman, shared some major takeaways for employers at the recent Midwest Business Group on Health annual conference in Chicago.   She shared some interesting findings about what sources people trust for information. Key findings were that […]

This post, Three Key Recommendations to Improve HIPAA Compliance, first appeared on https://thedoctorweighsin.com. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandates industry-wide standards for proper management of health care information and electronic billing. HIPAA compliance requires protection as well as the confidential handling of all protected health information (PHI). According to HIPAA rules, any company that deals with protected information must have a physical network and security measures that are followed to ensure compliance. […]

This post, Safety first: Protecting health care workers and patients, first appeared on https://www.devex.com. Needlestick injuries, or NSIs, among health care workers remain a global burden. Accurate data is difficult to ascertain as injuries often go unreported even to this date. The World Health Organization estimated that among the 35 million health care workers worldwide, about 3 million receive percutaneous exposures to bloodborne pathogens each year; 2 million of those to hepatitis B, 0.9 million to hepatitis […]