Safety & Compliance

OSHA Reveals Top 10 Safety Violations for Fiscal Year 2021 at NSC Safety Congress & Expo

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced its preliminary Top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety standards for fiscal year 2021. NSC Safety+Health Associate Editor Kevin Druley introduced Patrick Kapust, deputy director of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs, who presented the list virtually during the 2021 NSC Safety Congress & Expo, the world’s largest annual gathering of safety professionals. Fall Protection (1926.501) remains at the top of the list for the 11th year in a

Read More »
Safety & Compliance

The 3 Most Common HIPAA Violations

Keeping up with HIPAA regulations is crucial for every business. While common violations of HIPAA laws vary from one company to another, the bottom line is that these violations relate to the loss or damage of HIPAA-protected health information. Protected health information includes any demographic data used to identify patients, such as names, home addresses, phone numbers, date of birth, email addresses, social security numbers, insurance IDs, facial photos, and other health care records. Even

Read More »
Safety & Compliance

Children’s hospital agrees to pay $80,000 to resolve potential violation of HIPAA standard

Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, has agreed to pay $80,000 to settle a potential violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s Privacy Rule, according to a news release from the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In May 2020, a parent filed a complaint with the office alleging that the center, which provides pediatric health care services, had failed to provide her with

Read More »
Medical Waste

This is the new issue of WMW

It feels a little cynical to come to final conclusions about effects of the global COVID-pandemic while the world is still in the midst of rampant infection waves. For the treatment of health care waste, however, we can at least come to an interim conclusion, because the epidemiological and technological facts are clear. While the whole world realized with a sigh of relief, that the virus is rarely transmitted via objects – and medical waste

Read More »
Safety & Compliance

Missouri hospital to give staff panic buttons to protect them from violent patients

A Missouri hospital will be equipping its staff with panic buttons to protect them from violent patients following a startling rise in assaults, administrators said. Cox Medical Center Branson, located about 44 miles from Springfield, said it was implementing the added protection after violent assaults by patients tripled in the last year. According to hospital data, total assaults rose from 40 to 123 and total injuries climbed from 17 to 78. Assaults leading to injury

Read More »
Safety & Compliance

Is Asking Hospital Visitors for Proof of Vaccines a HIPAA Violation? 7 Things to Know

Hundreds of hospitals have mandated that their employees provide proof of vaccination. Other hospitals have begun to request hospital visitors show evidence they’ve been inoculated. Here’s why these do not violate HIPAA rules, according to an Aug. 4 Insider report. Seven things to know: 1. Some Americans have expressed concerns that being asked to provide proof of vaccination status violates HIPAA. However, what HIPAA protects is very narrow. In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed HIPAA

Read More »
Medical Waste

Eco-Friendly PPE: The Inventors Working to Solve the COVID-19 Plastic Waste Problem

From surgical masks and gloves to disposable hospital gowns and aprons, the COVID-19 pandemic is creating a mountain of plastic medical waste that is polluting the land and sea — alarming doctors and environmentalists alike. One young entrepreneur in Mexico has now invented a range of reusable PPE (personal protective equipment) she hopes will stop metric tons of single-use medical wear ending up in landfill, incinerators, and waterways — and save hospitals a fortune. Tamara

Read More »
Safety & Compliance

Follow These 5 Steps to Ensure HIPAA Compliance When Texting Patients

As long as providers remain HIPAA-compliant, they will be able to text patients with ease and see all the benefits that it brings — including stronger patient loyalty, more revenue, and more referrals. Many people, and that includes patients, prefer to text because it’s quick, easy, and convenient. Texting is incredibly effective for medical practices for things like scheduling, ongoing care, and more. You should be texting, but you have to make sure you’re staying

Read More »
Safety & Compliance

15 Years Later, Walgreens’ HIPAA Violation Case Raises Questions

Newly obtained internal emails revealed that OCR may not have known that its investigation into a Walgreens HIPAA violation was still open 10 years later. Following a 2006 HIPAA violation investigation by Indianapolis news station WTHR, CVS and Rite Aid reached settlements with HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and paid a combined $3.25 million in fines. CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens were all found exposing protected health information (PHI) by improperly disposing of records

Read More »
(Visited 1,029 times, 4 visits today)